Re:Graphical Linear Algebra
by nerdponx on Tuesday August 18, 2020 @09:02AM
(#24198061)
This is not true. This may be true from an engineering perspective, or maybe if you've studied in the US, but over here, linear algebra starts with fields, vector spaces, homomorphisms. We establish pretty early on that matrices and linear transformations are in essence the same thing (up to choice of basis), and then we go on to prefer coordinate-free proofs. But, of course, we do discuss the computational aspect (i.e. the Gauss algorithm) because this is exactly what makes linear algebra so useful: many questions can be answered extremely efficiently.
This is how I was taught linear algebra in the USA too. Almost to a fault, where I lacked practical intuition for how matrices and vectors of real numbers work and had to re-learn that stuff later.
This is how I was taught linear algebra in the USA too. Almost to a fault, where I lacked practical intuition for how matrices and vectors of real numbers work and had to re-learn that stuff later.