Basic Linear Algebra: An Introduction with an Intuitive Approach

"This is a book for beginners in linear algebra. Duc Tran aims for simple statements of the ideas and facts that he needs. He organizes them in a coherent way: first the main facts about vectors and then about matrices. For a matrix, he discusses elimination to echelon form and then the rank and the four fundamental subspaces. The result is a short book that a student can read." - Professor Gilbert Strang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

"The book adopts a visual and largely informal approach to introduce linear algebra. It reverses the old-school order which started from linear equations or operation on matrices; instead, the author begins with the graphical representation of vectors, whilst the determinants and linear equations are postponed to the last two chapters. He introduces the notion of norms at an early stage, including the l^1 or 'taxicab' norm, which is not only interesting but also indispensable for advanced topics. The appendices contain rough sketches of advanced topics such as tensors. This book will be a nice complement to the more comprehensive textbooks on linear algebra. It will be welcomed by students who feel frustrated by the orthodox pedagogy to this topic." - Professor Wen-Wei Li, Peking University

"This introductory level textbook for basic linear algebra written by Duc Tran is for those who wish to study linear algebra for the first time. It will be especially suitable for high school students or first year undergraduates when they have to understand basic linear algebra but do not want to go to the heavy mathematics course. The author provides plenty of graphs and graphical representations of matrices with examples, exercises and their solutions. This book reminds the reviewer some images like AP course, self-study, linear algebra for biology or social science majors, and linear algebra for programmers." - Professor Sang Geun Han, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)