Matrices and Linear Algebra (Dover Books on Advanced Mathematics) (Paperback)

by Hans Schneider (Author), George Phillip Barker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Basic textbook covers theory of matrices and its applications to systems of linear equations and related topics such as determinants, eigenvalues and differential equations. Numerous exercises, both true-false and multiple choice, with each chapter. Answer section.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; 2 edition (June 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486660141
• ISBN-13: 978-0486660141
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #410,677 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice, CHEAP book on introductory linear algebra, July 26, 2004

By	Patrick Thompson (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a bargain! Do a search on linear algebra and see what comes up; then look at the prices!

This book is a well written exposition of the usual topics one finds in the typical introduction to linear algebra textbook...except at 10% of the price. That in itself is a serious motivation to consider this book -> saving $90 on a book is not to be sneezed at.

OK the book is a dover...that means it's concise, compact, nothing fancy and not overly modern...but that's ok. When you're dealing with the fundementals you don't have to be at the cutting edge. But what you must have is a strong, confusion free understanding of these fundementals. And this book delivers. The proofs are simple and straighforward for the most part (if not terribly expansive) and you should be able to follow them. There are solutions (not worked) for many of the exerices in the book (calcultions type questions, not proofs however). The content can be seen by using the looking inside the book feature.

I have both elementary alegebra by howard anton and this book, and truth be told, I can't see why the price is so different. Anton doesn't give you that much more. I would suggest however that you purchase this is a supplement to your class text (if your lecturer sets work from it), however if you want to do some self-study or brush-up then this little book is perfect (easy to carry too!)

In fact for this book and the linear algebra problem solver (isbn 0878915184), you're looking at $33.50 and between them they cover a large amount of linear algebra. And you're still $82 dollars ahead of ELementary Linear algebra (isbn 0471170550) by anton!

So, in all, an excellent, well-written little book. Fantastic price. It's easy to follow and learn from and covers most if not all (depending on your lecturer) of a first course in linear algebra (check the table of contents!). Even has end of chapter quizzes, with answers (10 true/false, 5 multiple choice questions) So check it out! What's $12, really? That'll get you 1/10 of the Anton book but all of this!

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You can do much, much better, October 12, 2004

By	H. J. Smith (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First, the text of this book is extremely well-written, the theorems are clearly stated and the proofs are well-presented. Unfortunately, there are LOADS of typos in this book, but that doesn't bother me.

What bothers me are the exercises at the end of each section - the difficulty level of several (not all) of them is far beyond the depth of the text. The text is supposed to be for "undergraduates with little mathematical experience". Don't you believe it. There are problems early in the book that ask you to write proofs that require a depth of understanding that the text does not come close to providing. Many times I was absolutely convinced that the text and the exercises were from completely different textbooks! If the author is going to include difficult or "let's see how well you got this" problems I'm all for it, but at least include some hints in the back to help students get started. Otherwise you're just stranded on your lonely little mathematical island....hungry and cold and completely screwed.

If you just want a book for reference, then this is a very good choice. However, if you are attempting to learn the material and are interested in trying your hand at more than a few problems then I strongly suggest you look elsewhere.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cheap, formal, well written, November 11, 2005

By	H. Lenzi (Porto Alegre, RS Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

On my desk right now, books by: David C. Lay, Terry Lawson, Sheldon Axler, Klaus Jänich, Robert Valenza, and this one by Schneider and Barker. I tend to go back again and again here.
I'm using this book as a supplement for the textbook in my class. Some of the books cited above don't quite fit the bill because they're so different from the linear algebra for engineering you so often see in classes. But this one is excellent for a matrix-heavy approach.
This book is "bare bones", indeed, but it is very well written. Some might not be used to definitions, propositions, theorems and lemmas but in this case this makes it a whole lot easier for finding (and referencing) the important results. The notation is careful and formal, but the explanations are crystal clear. On the back cover it says it's geared towards students "outside the field of mathematics" but I think they say that because it avoids a purely algebraic approach (like in Valenza where e.g. Ker is defined in the context of group homomorphism). The approach is the one of matrixes, matrixes everywhere (row echelon algorithm, etc.) There are, however, no "modern" applications (such as networks, or ecology) as examples.
Another reviewer complained about the difficulty in exercises. While you have "drill" ones, you do have more conceptual ones, but I think they're on par with the text. There are no pretty illustrations here, and you will see that you don't need them.
In some other books, material might be presented in a wordy manner, but in this book, you just say "ah, so what so-and-so is saying is just Theorem number X.X.X in S&B."
On the whole, this is an excellent acquisition for your undergraduate library. It is cheap and good. What more do you want?