Meighan I. Dillon – författare

This textbook is directed towards students who are familiar with matrices and their use in solving systems of linear equations. The emphasis is on the algebra supporting the ideas that make linear algebra so important, both in theoretical and practical applications. The narrative is written to bring along students who may be new to the level of abstraction essential to a working understanding of linear algebra. The determinant is used throughout, placed in some historical perspective, and defined several different ways, including in the context of exterior algebras. The text details proof of the existence of a basis for an arbitrary vector space and addresses vector spaces over arbitrary fields. It develops LU-factorization, Jordan canonical form, and real and complex inner product spaces. It includes examples of inner product spaces of continuous complex functions on a real interval, as well as the background material that students may need in order to follow those discussions. Special classes of matrices make an entrance early in the text and subsequently appear throughout. The last chapter of the book introduces the classical groups.

Presented as an engaging discourse, this textbook invites readers to delve into the historical origins and uses of geometry. The narrative traces the influence of Euclid’s system of geometry, as developed in his classic text The Elements, through the Arabic period, the modern era in the West, and up to twentieth century mathematics. Axioms and proof methods used by mathematicians from those periods are explored alongside the problems in Euclidean geometry that lead to their work. Students cultivate skills applicable to much of modern mathematics through sections that integrate concepts like projective and hyperbolic geometry with representative proof-based exercises.For its sophisticated account of ancient to modern geometries, this text assumes only a year of college mathematics as it builds towards its conclusion with algebraic curves and quaternions. Euclid’s work has affected geometry for thousands of years, so this text has something to offer to anyone who wants to broaden their appreciation for the field.