Textbook in PDF format

With this state of the theory of polynomials in mind, this book will serve two different purposes. First we want to give a general approach to the notion of a polynomial via universal algebra in such a way that the classical concept of a polynomial becomes a special case within the general theory, hence we will endeavour to extend the classical theory to generalized polynomials. Secondly, our object is to give a representative sample of results on polynomials over special classes of algebraic structures, such as commutative rings or groups, which refer to the connection between polynomials and polynomial mappings or to the composition of polynomials