Matrices and Linear Algebra (Dover Books on Advanced Mathematics)

Rating:
Summary: Supplemental Superiority
Review: As a physics major, i've been told by my E & M teacher that Linear Algebra is one of the two games to be played in physics. (The other naturally being calculus). So, what happens when it comes time to take Linear Algebra and the teacher only serves to confuse the material, and the college textbook is a normal college math book? (a.k.a. not well written or useful). Get Dover books. And this book delivers for me. Everything i'm supposed to learn in Shifrin's text is presented here with much clearer writing. (Especially in drawing your eye to the thereoms, any one who wants to Linear Algebra without knowing the thereoms or applying them to the homework should probably stop now and go back to Trig.) It seems this book would make a good stand alone text, provided you are willing to not expect calculus cookbookness, because it's my side text that trumps my main textbook for 1/10th the price. And in closing, thank God for Dover for making life as a physics major that much cheaper.

Rating:
Summary: You can do much, much better
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Nice, CHEAP book on introductory linear algebra
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Clearly exposed an important math field
Review: This book is very useful not only as an introduction to the college math but also as an alternative high school book. One of the best investion I have ever made! Get it - now.