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| 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: 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
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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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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