Wildlife and Nature Books Online in Association with Amazon.com
Wildlife and Nature Books OnlineShop in UK CurrencyWildlife Search Engine
Search Advanced Search
 Location:  Home » Books » Algebra & Trigonometry » Linear Algebra and Its Applications, 3rd Updated Edition (Book & CD-ROM)  
Linear Algebra and Its Applications, 3rd Updated Edition (Book & CD-ROM)
Linear Algebra and Its Applications, 3rd Updated Edition (Book & CD-ROM)
Author: David C. Lay
Publisher: Addison Wesley
Category: Book

List Price: $69.88
Buy New: $65.95
You Save: $3.93 (6%)



New (26) from $65.95

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 16 reviews
Sales Rank: 20087

Media: Hardcover
Edition: 3
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.5
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 8.2 x 1

ISBN: 0321287134
Dewey Decimal Number: 512.5
EAN: 9780321287137
ASIN: 0321287134

Publication Date: September 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Accessories:

  • Supplement: Student Study Guide Update - Linear Algebra and Its Applications Update: In

Similar Items:

  • Supplement: Student Study Guide Update - Linear Algebra and Its Applications Update: In
  • Elementary Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems , 8th Edition, with ODE Architect CD
  • First Course in Probability, A (7th Edition)
  • Linear Algebra and Its Applications (3rd Edition)
  • Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description

Linear algebra is relatively easy for students during the early stages of the course, when the material is presented in a familiar, concrete setting. But when abstract concepts are introduced, students often hit a brick wall. Instructors seem to agree that certain concepts (such as linear independence, spanning, subspace, vector space, and linear transformations), are not easily understood, and require time to assimilate. Since they are fundamental to the study of linear algebra, students' understanding of these concepts is vital to their mastery of the subject. Lay introduces these concepts early in a familiar, concrete Rn setting, develops them gradually, and returns to them again and again throughout the text so that when discussed in the abstract, these concepts are more accessible.




Customer Reviews:   Read 11 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars Pretty Good, But Explanations Are Short   December 1, 2008
This book is pretty good, but it's too complicated at times and doesn't explain things enough, especially considering how hard this subject can be. But, this book would probably be great for someone who is better at linear algebra. I did, however, find that it was a great book once I actually understood the material, so that shows how brief its explanations are.


3 out of 5 stars Ver little help on tough concepts   October 2, 2008
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This book is an overview of Linear Algebra rather than a comprehensive study. The problems that really dwell deep into the concepts are left unanswered even when the problem is odd. You go to the back of the book and the answer isn't there; instead, it tells you to go to the STUDY GUIDE for the answer. Here's the clincher. You buy a $30 study guide, and then you flip to the correct section and the ANSWER ISN'T THERE. This is a BAD SALES SCHEME. The author claims that giving students answers inhibits critical thinking, but it's clear that he really intends for unwary students to buy his study guide so he can get money without exerting minimum mental effort. I strongly discourage people from buying this book. You'd be better off asking for help on the internet blogs.


4 out of 5 stars Very easy book to understand   September 28, 2008
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

This book is very readable and has plenty of examples that make sense. The book is definitely organized in an order that makes sense to follow it straight through, and not jump ahead since many of the concepts build upon themselves and others.


5 out of 5 stars Excellent   September 15, 2008
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

I bought it used for half the price of the same book used at my college textbook, and yet when I received it the book was practically brand new. Excellent Service.


1 out of 5 stars Confusion and Misdirection   September 10, 2008
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This is a very confusing book. Most students will have experienced simple operations with matrices at some point in their algebra education. But that's not linear algebra. Linear algebra is about vector spaces and linear transformations.

This book takes the approach of introducing a wide range of topics in the first chapter and then in subsequent chapters presenting topics that build on the preliminaries from the first chapter, but never going back and ties things together.

The organization can be VERY confusing. The ideas are never brought together in a meaningful way. This book is full of digrams and definition boxes that obscure the flow of the text, what little there is. In addition, I had an instructor who was not a native english speaker so my linear algebra class was very challenging.

If you have this book for a class, be prepared to spend a lot of time flipping pages, attempting to connect the dots. There are much better linear algebra books out there.


Wildlife, nature and the Environment

Sponsored Links

Wildlife

Discover Wildlife using our Google Wildlife Search

Learn how to get your own Amazon Book shop