use Devel::Peek; $inf = (~@~)**(~@~); $nan = $inf / $inf; Dump $_ for $inf, $nan; __END__ SV = NV(0x9e15f84) at 0x9dfc11c REFCNT = 2 FLAGS = (NOK,pNOK) NV = inf SV = NV(0x9e15f9c) at 0x9dfc59c REFCNT = 2 FLAGS = (NOK,pNOK) NV = nan