Polynomials are perhaps the most important family of functions in mathematics. They feature in celebrated results from both antiquity and modern times, like the insolvability by radicals of polynomials of degree ? 5 of Abel and Galois, and Wiles' proof of Fermat's "last theorem". In computer science they feature in, e.g., error-correcting codes and probabilistic proofs, among many applications. The manipulation of polynomials is essential in numerous...