I wrote code to shift and scale the range [-1, 1] to [0, 1] and mapped it on a list. Prelude> map (\n -> ((n + 1) / 2)) [-1, 0, 1] [0.0,0.5,1.0] I thought using sections would better express the simplicity of this operation. Prelude> :t (+ 1) (+ 1) :: Num a => a -> a Prelude> :t (/ 2) (/ 2) :: Fractional a => a -> a Given the types of those sections, I thought it sensible for me to compose them like this. Prelude> :t ((+ 1) / 2) ((+ 1) / 2) :: (Fractional (a -> a), Num a) => a -> a This didn't work of course, and its type baffles me. Though it ends with "Num a) => a -> a", it gives an error when given a number. I don't understand what "(Fractional (a -> a), ...) =>" really means. It seems like I've asked Haskell to perform "/" on the arguments "(+ 1)" and "2", but that ought to be disallowed by the type of "/". I eventually realized I should use the composition operator (below), but I'm still curious what I created with "((+ 1) / 2)". Prelude> :t (/ 2) . (+ 1) (/ 2) . (+ 1) :: Fractional c => c -> c Thanks! Patrick