Mastodawn

I've decided it's time to just read straight through a linear algebra textbook. Is Strang still the standard?

@ZachWeinersmith If you want to read one cover to cover I can recommend https://linear.axler.net/

It also depends a bit on what you want to get out of it. Axler is good to get the more abstract perspective on linear algebra.

If you just want a concrete understanding of what an SVD does to a grid of numbers, it's probably not the best one.

Linear Algebra Done Right

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Zach Weinersmith 1d ago

@pbloem I tried Axler but he's SO abstract I get tripped up. I keep reading sentences that feel like "1+1 equals two, which you should verify."

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Lavi 1d ago

@ZachWeinersmith @pbloem I loved this treatment but it’s definitely written specifically for math folks. I will say it could be worth trying again, maybe even after reading something else because it provides lots of real math insight and understanding the how/why that is often dropped in favor just teaching the algorithms in some other textbooks

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Zach Weinersmith 1d ago

@lavi @pbloem Ha, yeah, that's what I figured. I think the problem is I'm not fluent yet. So figured I'd read Strang whose philosophy is examples first, then definitions. Then circle back to Axler for rigor.

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Lavi

@ZachWeinersmith @pbloem this is very reasonable. And likely you’d find Adler more insightful after having a grasp of examples and general definitions