Practical Linear Algebra: A Geometry Toolbox

Practical Linear Algebra introduces students in math, science, engineering, and computer science to Linear Algebra from an intuitive and geometric viewpoint, creating a level of understanding that goes far beyond mere matrix manipulations. Practical aspects, such as computer graphics topics and numerical strategies, are covered throughout, and thus students can build a "Geometry Toolbox," based on a geometric understanding of the key concepts. This book covers all the standard linear algebra material for a first-year course; the authors teach by motivation, illustration, and example rather than by using a theorem/proof style. Special Features: - Clear visual representations (more than 200 figures) for improved material comprehension. - Hand-drawn sketches encourage students to create their own sketches when solving problems-developing another layer of learning. - Numerous examples show applications to real-world problems. - Problems at the end of each chapter allow students to test their understanding of the material presented. Solutions to selected problems are provided. - Concise chapter summaries highlight the most important points, giving students focus for their approach to learning. An instructor's manual will be available soon.

Gerald Farin received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Braunschweig, Germany, in 1979. He is the author of Curves and Surfaces for CAGD (5th ed.), NURBS (2nd ed.), The Geometry Toolbox, and The Essentials of CAGD. He is also editor-in-chief of the journal Computer Aided Geometric Design.

Dianne Hansford is a Fulbright scholar who received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Arizona State University in 1991. She has published several research publications in the field of CAGD and periodically teaches for ASU's computer science department.