Reddit reviews Elementary Linear Algebra with Applications (9th Edition)

MA 265 - Linear Algebra

Do not under any circumstances buy the listed textbook for this class, Elementary Linear Algebra. Seriously, read the Amazon reviews; they're all true. I think I wrote 1000 words in my course review telling them how awful this book was and to find a new one. Of course, that didn't do anything. I read almost every textbook presented to me cover to cover, so I know a bad textbook when I see one. I really tried to read this one, but it is just so godawful confusing. It's written like a math professor forgot he was writing a book for undergrads and not just proving theorems for his fellow mathematicians. Has exactly zero appreciation for teaching, and instead just lays proofs one after another with little explanation in between.

> If you are reading through this textbook and you have no idea what is going on, it is not you, it's this book.

It's also looseleaf, which sucks to begin with. Save yourself a semester of grief and just pay attention in lecture or buy literally any other linear textbook you can find.

I asked my professor what the point of linear algebra is and he said to solve linear systems. If a system has three or more variables, I'm not going to solve it by hand, I'm going to throw it in Wolfram Alpha or Mathematica or whatever math computation engine I have. Learning how to solve them with matrices seems like a proof of concept more than being practical at all. I'm sure eigenvalues have lots of properties that are very useful that I haven't learned about yet. Learning how to compute those was another proof of concept.

But the rest was just math for the sake of math. Which I'm fine with, math is cool. It's just, it felt so mechanical, like I was following a list of steps to get an answer, and if I strayed from those steps or a problem asked for something that I didn't have a list of steps for, I was lost. Calculus was great; I loved calculus. Everything fit together; elegant proofs. Everything built on stuff before. Linear just feels like stumbling in the darkness.

Maybe it's just the textbook our school uses. Those Amazon reviews are spot on. To quote one:

> It might be possible that the author is a good mathematician, but he is definitely a terrible teacher.

Maybe it's just tainted linear algebra for someone who's always loved math.

CSC148 - no textbooks, readings provided.

CSC165 - same as 148

MAT137 - Calculus, one variable. this one, I think.

MAT223 - Elementary LA with Applications

the rest were electives for me.