The basic facts about separable extensions of discrete fields and factoring polynomials are developed in the constructive spirit of Errett Bishop. The ability to factor polynomials is shown to be ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about the future of learning, work and human development. Okay, we cut a bad deal 20 years ago and it’s time to fix it.

Two mathematicians have used a new geometric approach in order to address a very old problem in algebra. In school, we often learn how to multiply out and factor polynomial equations like (x² – 1) or ...

Here's how the process of synthetic division works, step-by-step. Divide \(3{x^3} - 4x + 5\) by \((x + 2)\) and state the quotient and remainder. First, make sure the polynomial is listed in order of ...

How many times during your educational career have you thought to yourself, “When on earth am I ever -- and I mean ever -- going to use this?” I would venture to guess we’ve all thought this a time or ...

Digital security depends on the difficulty of factoring large numbers. A new proof shows why one method for breaking digital encryption won’t work. My recent story for Quanta explained a newly proved ...