diff -r 79db70bd3188 Doc/library/math.rst
--- a/Doc/library/math.rst	Sun Jan 27 10:17:52 2013 +0000
+++ b/Doc/library/math.rst	Sun Jan 27 10:48:02 2013 +0000
@@ -215,6 +215,11 @@
    ``x`` is negative, and ``y`` is not an integer then ``pow(x, y)``
    is undefined, and raises :exc:`ValueError`.
 
+   .. note::
+
+      Unlike the built-in ``**`` operator, the :meth:`pow` function converts
+      both its arguments to type :class:`float`.  Use ``**`` for computing
+      exact integer powers.
 
 .. function:: sqrt(x)