--- trunk/src/math/Polynomial.hpp	2006/05/17 21:51:42	963
+++ trunk/src/math/Polynomial.hpp	2008/03/07 19:37:14	1230
@@ -187,6 +187,22 @@ namespace oopse {
 
     size_t size() {
       return polyPairMap_.size();
+    }
+
+    PolynomialType& operator = (const PolynomialType& p) {
+
+      if (this != &p)  // protect against invalid self-assignment
+      {
+        typename Polynomial<ElemType>::const_iterator i;
+
+        polyPairMap_.clear();  // clear out the old map
+      
+        for (i =  p.begin(); i != p.end(); ++i) {
+  	  this->setCoefficient(i->first, i->second);
+        }
+      }
+      // by convention, always return *this
+      return *this; 
     }
 
     PolynomialType& operator += (const PolynomialType& p) {