Can math.atan2 return INF?

[Lawrence D’Oliveiro]

On Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at 10:55:03 PM UTC+12, Marko Rauhamaa wrote:
> No, the fundamental question here is whether it makes scientific sense
> to speculate about topics that are beyond the reach of science. Few
> scientists speculate about what went on before the Big Bang, for
> example.

On the contrary. The cosmic microwave background is too smooth to be explained by a simple Big Bang. Hence the invention of cosmic inflation, to try to smooth it out. Trouble is, once you turn on the inflation field, how do you turn it off? But if you don’t turn it off, then you get an infinite series of Big Bangs, not just one.

So you see, like it or not, we are drawn to the conclusion that there *was* indeed something before our particular Big Bang.

Every time somebody tries to point to an example of a “topic that is beyond the reach of science”, it seems to get knocked over eventually.