Elementary Linear Algebra

Rating:
Summary: a LA book for the rest of us
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: a LA book for the rest of us
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Bad book
Review: 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!!!

Rating:
Summary: Bad book
Review: 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!!!

Rating:
Summary: Formal proofs with an easy language
Review: 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!