Linear Algebra (2nd Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Un libro excelente
Review: Estudié Algebra Lineal por este libro cuando hacía la licenciatura en Matemática en 1.979. Después de todos estos años quise repasar los conceptos de Álgebra Lineal de una manera rigurosa pero amena, con ejemplos. Busque los nuevos libros, revisé varios y me decidí de nuevo por éste. Lo recomiendo.

Rating:
Summary: Un libro excelente
Review: Estudié Algebra Lineal por este libro cuando hacía la licenciatura en Matemática en 1.979. Después de todos estos años quise repasar los conceptos de Álgebra Lineal de una manera rigurosa pero amena, con ejemplos. Busque los nuevos libros, revisé varios y me decidí de nuevo por éste. Lo recomiendo.

Rating:
Summary: Best Linear Algebra Book but not for lay people
Review: I got this book for my Linear Algebra class about four years ago. This is a great book if you are getting a degree in mathematics. It won't help if you are just trying to get by the class and don't like math. It is not very practical but if you are looking for a real math book on Linear Algebra this is it. It contains a wealth of theorems that only a math lover would appreciate. If you really want to learn about Linear Algebra from a rigorous mathematical point of view this is it. This book taught me so much.

Rating:
Summary: Best intro to linear algebra I've seen.
Review: I simply loved this book. Hoffman and Kunze have written a very sturdy book that begins with the most basic concepts of linear algebra(such as echelon form) and goes through cannonical forms, inner product spaces, and Bilinear forms. The proofs are complete and at an appropriate level for a first look at the subject. Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of this book was the treatment of dual spaces and tensors. It seems many linear texts deal with one subject or the other but rarely do I see both subjects dealt with in the same book.

The only non-positive comment I would like to make about this book is that its beauty is not in its appearence. When you open the book and flip through the pages you feel a little uneasy. The typeset looks uninviting. Take heart! The beauty of the book lies in its content. Give it a thorough chance, and I don't think you will be disapointed

I highly recomend this book for both learning and reference.

Rating:
Summary: NC-17. For Adults Only.
Review: I studied this book between undergraduate school and graduate school in mathematics. It puts linear algebra on a rigorous foundation. I solved hundreds of the problems and found it enjoyable and intellectually satisfying. Before tackling this book, I would suggest the reader get an exposure to matrices and related ideas from something a little more concrete.

A strong grasp of vector spaces is essential for anyone who wants to do mathematics. The study of this book will give you that understanding.

Rating:
Summary: Math only
Review: I taught myself linear algebra so my experience may have been worse than most but I thought this book was a pain. Forget about learning the easy concepts easily, this book throws you into math without clear explanations. The excercises were good but answers would've been nice. NOT an easy reference and definitely not a book to self-teach with.

Rating:
Summary: This book does its job as a first course
Review: I think the following comment must be why 0 out of 4 have enjoyed my review:

"If, given a system of n Linear equations in m unknowns - and you are unable to "solve it", then you should be given an F in any Linear Algebra course. Remarkably, it seems some students fail to learn this trivial idea after studying Hoffman Kunze. (Some (not all) students were not idiots, it's just that the presentation is bad.)"

Since newbie linear algebra students don't like my opinion (eat crap), I've appropriately changed my review for advanced students.

Hoffman Kunze (HK) provides two courses in Linear Algebra. There is the "1st course", Linear Equations, Vector Spaces, Linear Transformations. As I remarked previously, the section on Linear Equations is not effective for students trying to learn it for the first time. It contains an abstract discussion and proves some basic theorems, which most of us find obvious.

The "2nd course" is on Canonical Forms, Inner Product Spaces, and Finite Dimensional Spectral Theory. In my opinion, this 2nd part of the book is written very lucidly, and makes for very good self study or reference.

It is all written in a straightforward manner, so that if you learned Linear Tranformations, Canonical Forms, and / or Inner Product Spaces somewhere else, then you would have no trouble starting at the end with Operators on Inner Product Spaces, and Spectral Theory. All of the chapters are easy to follow, without having to read the rest of the book in detail.

Finally, there is two chapters in the middle: Polynomials, and Determinants.

Polynomials seem much more appropriately left in an abstract algebra text. So I never look at that chapter.

The determinants section is nicely presented. It's not really necessary if you would like to take the basic properties of determinants as well known. (I.e. det A is nonzero iff A invertible, etc.) But it's still nice to have a reference where these facts are proved rigorously.


Rating:
Summary: Great for i-don't-write-on-the-classroom people
Review: I've used the spanish version, and it's a great book. They've all who i need, more theorical than "lipschutz" (Schaum), but with a lot of exercises with a moderate complexity. If you're studying Linear Algebra that's a "you must have it" book.

Rating:
Summary: Average
Review: This book is allright for a student already fluent in the language of linear algebra. If you've taken several courses dealing with vectorspaces, and matrix algebra, this is relatively easy to understand. It would be appreciated to have a few solutions to the questions, and a few more examples. Overall a decent book with a good intoductions to the more advanced linear algebra concepts. There are better books out there though.

Rating:
Summary: this book is useless
Review: This book is nothing but a series of theorems, proofs, and definitions, with no real explanations. The examples aren't very good, either. If you need more than a proof to grasp a concept, then this book is pretty much useless.