Overview

The text itself is well-written. Each chapter begins with a brief synopsis which nicely captures the heart of the chapter, and there are enough boldface headings and vocabulary to keep the reader oriented to the task at hand. MAA Reviews A First Course in Linear Algebra is written by two experts from algebra who have more than 20 years of experience in algebra, linear algebra and number theory. It prepares students with no background in Linear Algebra. Students, after mastering the materials in this textbook, can already understand any Linear Algebra used in more advanced books and research papers in Mathematics or in other scientific disciplines. This book provides a solid foundation for the theory dealing with finite dimensional vector spaces. It explains in details the relation between linear transformations and matrices. One may thus use different viewpoints to manipulate a matrix instead of a one-sided approach. Although most of the examples are for real and complex matrices, a vector space over a general field is briefly discussed. Several optional sections are devoted to applications to demonstrate the power of Linear Algebra.