Attend to the innermost parentheses that is farthest to the left, so replace (1+5) by 6 and copy everything else over: Attend to the innermost parentheses that is farthest to the left, which is , so divide the 6 by the 1, getting 6 and copy everything else over: Attend to the innermost parentheses that is farthest to the left, which is , so subtract and replace it by 2 and copy everything else over: Attend to the innermost parentheses that is farthest to the left, which is , so subtract and replace it by (-3) and copy everything else over: Attend to the innermost parentheses that is farthest to the left, which is , so multiply and replace it by (-12) and copy everything else over: Attend to the innermost parentheses that is farthest to the left, which is , so replace it by 4 and copy everything else over: And the final answer is Edwin