Customer Reviews

Linear Algebra with Applications (3rd Edition)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

This was perhaps the most poorly written textbook I've ever encountered. Theorems weren't defined completely or clearly. There were problems whose solution methods could in no way be extrapolated from the text alone; I had to use several other books. I recommend not buying this book unless it's required for a class. I'm sure there are many better references or self-teaching books out there.

This is the first semester my college has used this book and it will most likely be its last. Everyday, my professor says how unhappy he is with this book because they present information in an odd sequence. For instance, we learned about subspaces before knowing what an actual space is. This makes the book very confusing and hard to follow. Just a warning: almost every example (not problem) in this book is done in symbols which is sometimes hard to follow. Overall, I would not buy this book

I've never had such a hard time in a math class. I realized quickly that linear algebra is completely different from the mechanical things I've been learning. This subject is very different and very abstract. I knew I really had to STUDY and not just read this book.

Considering all of this, when I picked this book up, I was apprenhensive from the start. Whenever I see a thin book assigned for a subject that's entirely unfamiliar to students, I know it's going to be a very concise book without many examples and detailed explanations.

The few people who have given this book rave reviews sound like instructors. If you are an instructor reading this review, please keep one thing in mind: textbooks are written for students, not you. What difference does it make if you think it's great but your students can't understand the most basic concepts, which was happening in my class? Yes, this book will make you think--think for hours on such basic concepts as what's the difference between a rotation and reflection. One more example of a linear transformation would've made all the difference in the world. The very first exercises will often leave most students saying, huh? Thinking is great but if you have to search the web and buy other books to get more information, that book is worthless.

I'm a computer science major and there are books I really think are well-written but I would never recommend them to someone who's never touched the subject. I believe if most of the students don't like it, there's something wrong with the book (many of my classmates complained about this book as well). If you are a math major or someone with a PhD, of course, a concise and clean explanation is great. But for students who've never had it, it's a nightmare. It's a situation I see too often: the textbooks that are assigned usually get the worst reviews yet they keep getting assigned again and again. This is especially true in science and math courses.

This book is terrible. The reading sections are so short as to be terse, and they ill-prepare readers for the section problems. In my opinion, Bretscher does not effectively explain the concepts of linear algebra.

Furthermore, I rely on answers to odd problems to check my work. Often, they are invaluable guides. In this book, however, the answers in the back are worthless due to their brevity. Moreover, (odd) answers for concept questions or proofs are omitted entirely.

Take my advice, spend your [money] on something else!

I have taken many math classes in my career (I am currently a graduate student in statistics) and I would have to say this is one of the worst texbooks for introductory linear algebra out there. This book was assigned in an introductory linear algebra course at Cornell and if it weren't for other, much better linear algebra books, I would not have done well at all. One of the main flaws with this book is the lack of concrete examples, which in itself is enough to make it a terrible introductory text, but in addition, the study guide ironically gives detailed answers to relatively easy questions but NO explanation AT ALL of difficult, more theoretical exercises. The only reason that I can figure as to why this book is so popular among good universities is that they are trying to give students a hard time early on, perhaps to discourage them from taking further mathematics courses. I feel great pity for those that have the misfortune of being taught linear algebra with this book.

This is THE worst math book I have seen in my student career. It assumes that the student knows most of the stuff, and then just goes on to provide examples based on those assumptions. I would not recommend this to anyone who is just starting out on linear algebra as this book nearly destroyed my grades. If it weren't for another algebra book, which was much easier to understand, I wouldn't have been so lucky. Definitely one of the worst out there !

The explanations in this book are pretty lousy, as are the problems. Too frequently concepts are insufficiently proven. Homework problems are very abstract and not enlightening (they simply refer to a "fact" as they are called in the book instead of theorems).

This book skips steps especially in the beginning. Homework answers are often just a fact. Lacks a precise algorithm in helping students learn. Wish the teacher in this class is good, cause this book is wack. BEWARE!

What an awful book! The book omits so many steps and uses so many shortcuts that I think otto is just showing off and has no interest in teaching an entry level student anything. The solutions manual is even more worthless; 75% of the time it gives the answer only which can be found in the back of the textbook! Awful, horrid, and a shame I bought it.

I should have read the reviews here before purchasing this book. It is a required text for my Linear Algebra class, but I haven't been able to use it at all. A few examples are given at the start of each section, so the reader would naturally assume that the problems would be related to the examples...but they are not. The reader is left to himself to somehow brainstorm all of the necessary theorems. This is really a ridiculous text. To anyone buying this book for a class, I advise purchasing only the Student Solutions Manual... I know it is where I am doing all of my learning from.