Customer Reviews

Elementary Linear Algebra

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a great book for beginner courses in Linear Algebra. It covers most of the things you're likely to see in a beginner course (there a few topics that aren't covered in this book but probably you'd only see them in more advanced courses). The book is wonderfully diagrammed with emphasis boxes for definitions and theorems. Most theorems are given formal proofs but always in the simple and easy language of the rest of the book. The more straightforward proofs are left as exercise (and believe me, they're great exercises). The authors did not commit an offensive crime by leaving them out. This omission does not compromise understanding, either. At the end of each chapter it presents a cumulative summary of the most important topics learned so far. This is very important in a subject where the most simple definition learned in the first chapter of the book is the key to a much more difficult definition presented in a more advanced chapter. That's the joy of Linear Algebra!

This is an excellent introductory text to Linear Algebra. The book is clear and abstract symbols are not used as heavily as in other books, making it simpler to understand. The book is too large to cover in one semester, but there is an applications section in the back that will allow the student to put his or her new-found knowledge to the test with topics such as cryptography, markov chains, computer imaging and fractals. Highly recommended.

English isn't my native language. So some books not in plain english made me confused. This is a nice book implementing good pedagogy that makes me to learn linear algebra easily.

I have used this book as an undergraduate course text at the North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Students with good math background do not have too much trouble but businees students really struggle with the materials. It is very difficult to cover the book in one semester. It would be nice to point out the absolute necessary sections in each chapter. Instructor's manual was also not available to me.

I usually avoid demagogic descriptions of educational texts as they tend to appeal mainly to ignorants but in the case of linear algebra perhaps i can be excused. This book presents a difficult topic, that could be very frustrating, in an easy to understand, well documented manner. Unlike most math textbooks this book does not aim to educate only the top 5% of the class and confute the rest of the students. Rather the author seems to be targeting average to good math students. Also helpful is that he basses the relevant chapter examples on problems that actually appear in the excercises. No silly "discovery learning" or multiple levels of abstraction are required to solve the problems and understand the topics. I appreciate that the author is aiming to educate the bulk of his audiance and not just the mathematical elite. Only if more advanced math books were like this!

a terrible book for self-study. may be good as a class companion where the teacher explains a lot. but the author does not approach linear algebra in an pedagogical way that enables self-study. solutions for exercises come out of the blue of the sky. also errors found.

My son asked me to order this book for him, but it is not what it appeared to be. It only has test questions & answers. We were needing the TEXT BOOK. Then, I ordered another one with TB at the end, again, wrong book as TB stands for Test Bank, and only has suggested questions for tests but not the TEXT BOOK I thought I was ordering. Am at a loss, as I have spent almost $100 and still have not what I need, the TEXT BOOK.

The book gets confusing at points and the author assumes many concepts which defeat the purpose of being "Elementary". I have struggled at how he comes up with the answers. For example chapter 4 is so confusing!!!