No bullshit guide to linear algebra

Clear, approachable writing, AND mathematical rigor. An enjoyable read.

I skipped an intro linear algebra course and started with a more advanced course, and this book helped make that possible. I read it over break before the semester started and also referenced it throughout the semester, and it has been extremely helpful. I also have Gilbert Strang's textbook to help me out, and I like that for the most part, but it is not written as considerately. For some reason linear algebra books are written in a way that assumes you've already read the book and are re-reading it because they often refer to concepts not yet covered -- as if they are written for instructors rather than students. Strang is especially guilty of this, as if he is writing the book for his colleagues, telling them how to teach the course. Ivan Savov's book is much less guilty of this, and is more considerate to students learning concepts for the first time. Although the title has "No Bullshit" (I guess to appeal to students), there is actually more writing/explanation than is typical of math books, and I appreciate the care and patience and consideration of the writing. Other authors tend to have the attitude that students should just figure stuff out, but time is precious, and reading this book will save precious time. The only improvement I can think of is, more cross-referencing with page numbers. Sometimes concepts are introduced and then covered more in-depth later. Referencing to page numbers would be very helpful. I hope there will be a new edition of this very-well written and helpful book, with better cross-referencing. About the printed copy: I like hard copies for math books because I make lots of notes and refer back-and-forth between pages. This hard copy has nice quality paper and great print. But the binding is not great, and some pages have fallen out (it is a thick book with smallish pages so you have to bend the spine a lot to open it fully). So other than that I'm glad I got the hard copy. Since the cross-referencing is not great, an ebook version would have been less convenient, at least for this first edition. I highly recommend this book.

I am only just starting this book, but already I can see I hold in my hands something that is going to save me tons of frustration using traditional math books. I will update if that changes, but so far, my favorite math book. :-) The author seems to have a real gift for explaining the topic and hitting the essentials, not sure if this is the philosophy of the way the book is written or due to the author's own style, but the result is fantastic, and this is from someone who kind of hates mathematics, I meanI do not hate the topic, but the pedagogy that always seems to surround maths, i.e. using cryptic symbols, compressing the formulation to maximize obfuscation while increasing awe by neophytes, you can feel my disdain, however math is super useful, and I am embarrassed that I do not have a higher proficiency. I guess I just learn differently, I need to know why, before I know how, but most math books are only about how and rely on lots of supportive material that violates the Feynman rule.

I am currently working my way through this book. I am in the middle of Chapter 4 at the time of writing this review. This is a great book. I have not taken a Linear Algebra course, but I was interested in learning about the subject. There have been a few cases when I have been stumped by an exercise, and I used resources like YouTube or math.stackexchange.com to learn more. I have also been pairing this book with the MIT OpenCourseware on Linear Algebra, and I recommend anyone else to do so as well. The reason I give this 4 stars instead of 5 is because I feel like some sections are too brief. Maybe the "bulls**" is cut out of those sections, but sometimes the brevity has forced me to turn to other resources. I have enjoyed this book's approach so far more than your average textbook. However, after working this far through the book, I will be ordering a textbook just so I can learn more. The author is very responsive to questions and emails. I even found an incorrect solution in the back of the book and the author responded the next day confirming my suspicions :).

For years I have felt like a math tourist who couldn't speak the language. I could cut and paste code and could (usually) understand whatever results the computer spat out, but trying to read a blog post or paper explaining the algorithms just flummoxed me. Everything I tried (YouTube, college textbooks, blog posts) just confused me more. Then I stumbled upon this book and everything became clear. This is the only book I've found that can take you from absolute beginner to confident intermediate in just a few weeks. How? First, the title is the truth. There is not an ounce of filler in this whole book. Every section jumps right into the subject and walks you through step-by-step until you understand the whole thing. Nothing is left out, and everything is explained in clear, readable, conversational English. And there are none of these "guess my answer" games either. Every section is loaded with practice problems so you can check your learning, and the author doesn't cop out and only give the answers to a few of them. Every single problem is included in the answer key. He also has taken the time to point you to useful videos on YouTube that are relevant to the section's material, which is a huge time saver. Plus, he has several chapters showing real-life applications. I'm not enough of an expert to comment on the math quibbles some reviewers have found. This book isn't for them, it's for the rest of us. All I can say is after working my way through 50% of the book, I was able to build my own cosine similarity text search engine. From scratch. If you're looking to understand linear algebra and its applications, stop reading this review and buy the book. It has been a life altering experience (at least as far a math knowledge goes).

I keep coming back to this book. The writing style is clear and engaging, the examples are well paced. In all it means this is a great reference and learning guide for this subject. I’ve had a number of insights through this book and it’s examples that have been lacking elsewhere. Thanks to the author Ivan for spending the time to write it!

My impression is that this is a good book for those who are somewhat familiar with Linear Algebra, but who haven't been able to really grasp it. If you're completely new to Linear Algebra, this book is too sparse on its own, and you'll find yourself looking online for more thorough explanations. Often the subject is presented in a very matter-of-fact way, with no examples or attempts at explaining the material. I guess this is the "no bs" nature of the book, which is fine since there are plenty of resources online to help you out, but just don't expect to learn Linear Algebra from this book alone. For instance, for the chapter on Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors, no complete example of how to get eigenvalues or eigenvectors is provided. I find it hard to believe anyone could figure out this complicated topic without at least one example, but maybe it's just me.

All of Ivans books are a must read for students and self learners of math and physics. Reading his books meant that i covered the theory of my entire math and physics curriculum before I took the class which gave me the advantage i needed to approach and tackle the classroom problems without fear. My only issue is there is not a kindle/E-book version!! worth every penny though.

Very nice reference book. I also found it useful to refresh my linear algebra knowledge which got a bit rusty

Bra bok. Värd ett köp. Ganska snackig.

Great book for an intuitive understanding of the subject

I bought this book to get rid of certain weaknesses regarding the subject that have occured since I left university. The book has a fine structure, symbols and functions are well defined when they are introduced. The language used is precise and easy to read, it does not loose itself in too theoretical dimensions before explaining the basics. A quality I miss in almost any book regarding higher mathematics.

L’autore ha voluto fare un compendio generale di algebra lineare partendo dai rudimenti. Poteva essere più diretto e quindi meno dispersivo ma nel complesso va vene