In mathematics, as in baseball, the conventional wisdom is to avoid errors at all costs. That advice might be on target in baseball, but in mathematics, avoiding errors is not always a good idea. Sometimes an analysis of errors provides much deeper insights into mathematical ideas. Certain types of errors, rather than something to be eschewed, can…

We investigate the possibility of approximating the value of a definite integral by approximating the integrand rather than using numerical methods to approximate the value of the definite integral. Particular cases considered include examples where the integral is improper, such as an elliptic integral. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)