That's a good point regarding the Matrix Cookbook. I didn't start using it until I'd already learned a lot of linear algebra and how to do matrix calculus by hand, so I didn't really need much of an explanation when I first discovered it in the 2000s.

In contrast, the Tensor Cookbook was my first introduction to tensor diagrams, so I didn't have any prior experience with them to lean on.

It certainly looks like a useful and powerful technique, but it seems like something that warrants almost a crash course in the topic with some exercises rather than just jumping in.

> It certainly looks like a useful and powerful technique, but it seems like something that warrants almost a crash course in the topic with some exercises rather than just jumping in.

I guess my personal crash course was writing a book on the topic. And a software library... Ironically this makes it harder for me to appreciate the level of explanation needed for others.

Thus I rely on people like you to tell me where the chain jumps off, so I can expand the sections. Please let me know what sections were too quickly skipped through!