This book is pretty good, but it's too complicated at times and doesn't explain things enough, especially considering how hard this subject can be. But, this book would probably be great for someone who is better at linear algebra. I did, however, find that it was a great book once I actually understood the material, so that shows how brief its explanations are.

This book is an overview of Linear Algebra rather than a comprehensive study. The problems that really dwell deep into the concepts are left unanswered even when the problem is odd. You go to the back of the book and the answer isn't there; instead, it tells you to go to the STUDY GUIDE for the answer. Here's the clincher. You buy a $30 study guide, and then you flip to the correct section and the ANSWER ISN'T THERE. This is a BAD SALES SCHEME. The author claims that giving students answers inhibits critical thinking, but it's clear that he really intends for unwary students to buy his study guide so he can get money without exerting minimum mental effort. I strongly discourage people from buying this book. You'd be better off asking for help on the internet blogs.

This book is very readable and has plenty of examples that make sense. The book is definitely organized in an order that makes sense to follow it straight through, and not jump ahead since many of the concepts build upon themselves and others.

This book is very readable and has plenty of examples that make sense. The book is definitely organized in an order that makes sense to follow it straight through, and not jump ahead since many of the concepts build upon themselves and others.

I bought it used for half the price of the same book used at my college textbook, and yet when I received it the book was practically brand new. Excellent Service.

This is a very confusing book. Most students will have experienced simple operations with matrices at some point in their algebra education. But that's not linear algebra. Linear algebra is about vector spaces and linear transformations.

This book takes the approach of introducing a wide range of topics in the first chapter and then in subsequent chapters presenting topics that build on the preliminaries from the first chapter, but never going back and ties things together.

The organization can be VERY confusing. The ideas are never brought together in a meaningful way. This book is full of digrams and definition boxes that obscure the flow of the text, what little there is. In addition, I had an instructor who was not a native english speaker so my linear algebra class was very challenging.

If you have this book for a class, be prepared to spend a lot of time flipping pages, attempting to connect the dots. There are much better linear algebra books out there.

I've used this book for two university classes. The book covers the material conceptually well, but the exercises are written as though you've masted the material before doing any exercises: basic theorems introduced in the book are not covered in simple exercises, and a high understanding is required to answer even some of the early exercises.

The study guide/answers solution guide is not terribly helpful, often giving answers without showing the needed work to get there (often the only reason you're reaching for the study guide in the first place).

If you have a choice between two classes, one which uses this book and another which doesn't, take the other class: avoid this book. If you just want to learn linear algebra, there's much better books out there. Avoid this book. Go with another book that doesn't have majorly negative reviews.

I was not impressed with my instructor for this course, so I had to rely heavily on the book to teach myself the subject. It is very well written, with plenty of appropriate examples and exercises. I really like that Lay puts a couple of practice problems before the actual exercises--I used these as a test of whether or not I needed to re-read the section before doing the h/w. I liked the study guide, but the "see the text" responses and failing to answer T/F questions was absolutely annoying (although I saw Lay's purpose b/c I did learn more by looking it up, it was just time-consuming). The practice tests were helpful, although quite difficult. Make sure you buy a copy that still has the CD-ROM (with the study guide). Another tip is to go to Dr. Lay's website at the University of MD to view any handouts/info he gives his studs. I highly recommend the book.

This book starts out well, but eventually the chapters are too short and don't go far enough in depth on the more advanced topics. This book isn't ideal for any sort of self-study, as it does not contain enough information to thoroughly educate the reader on many of the subjects without some supplementary instruction. Also does not go into any detail on using Mat Lab or any other form of programming to solve linear algebra, which is somewhat essential nowadays. Wouldn't recommend.

This book provides a good companion for an introductory course in Linear Algebra. Mr. Lay's style is very clear, readable, and each concept logically builds on the last. My only concern is that, like another reviewer said there is the occasional gap between the exercises and the examples presented, which may require the assistance of the instructor. 4/5 Stars

The highest quality of a book is the ability to teach yourself from it. Lay's book is very self-teachable because it is written in a non-pretentious, explanatory way, making sure you get the big picture while making sure you can do the little details. It reminds me of Griffiths books in physics.

It is a little proof light, so I can respect that a mathematician who is into analysis might find this book too easy. Problems aren't too hard but aren't too easy for the more conceptual questions.

And I appreciate that the problems are meant to test your ability to understand the material, not do mindless calculations that I know anyone can do. For example, some matrices will just start off already diagonalized for you in later chapters.

This is written from the perspective of a physicist. I thus say to my fellow scientists that this is a great book to gain a good understanding of the linear algebra. If you are an experimentalist who frankly wants to learn only what he needs to in order to get by, THEN THIS BOOK ISN'T FOR YOU. This book develops from scratch everything you need to know for undergraduate physics. Go read a Differential Equations book and learn as you go for the linear algebra. If you're a theorist, this is for you.

I bought this book in June for a Linear Algebra course I will be starting in the fall. I've been looking through it and reading bits and pieces and from what I see I certainly like this guy's style. I've had completely unusable math books before but this is one of the few that I can use without the assistance of a teacher to at least begin to understand the basic concepts involved. Since I'll be taking the course as a high school student and not as a college student this book seems like it will do just fine to introduce concepts, and, from what I hear, the teacher who is taking over this course in the fall is excellent at explaining stuff so students understand it. Maybe after taking the course I'll change my mind, but for now Linear Algebra and Its Applications is one of the better math books I've ever used.

This book is much better than what I feel some reviewers are giving it credit for. Perhaps they have had better exposure than I have to other materials for comparison, but I cannot say for sure.

What I can say is that this book, for me, nearly took the place of the instructor that I had for the course. The book is literally that good at explaining concepts to you and providing relevant examples. I'm not sure what some reviewers meant when they found a gap between the examples and the problems at the end of the chapters, but I did not have this problem anywhere that I can recall.

What I like most about this book, compared to most of the math books I've seen in my day (more than enough, I assure you) is the format of the writing and the exposition of the problems. There are clear, clear connections made between visual and mechanical aspects of the problem. When you are working a linear algebra problem from the book, you should have a good idea of visually what it looks like that you're doing, where columns and rows are positioned, what elements from each are multiplying by the other and what the end result should look like before you get there. I don't typically get this vivid connection between the abstract visualization of the problem and the actual mechanics in other books, but this one poured it on consistently and I really enjoyed that.

The writing style is also casual enough that you don't feel as if you're being led through chapter after chapter of rote and repetition. Instead, it feels like you're being led further and further toward your understanding of the subject and you really are learning something new along the way at each step.

Regardless of what others say, I think that if you have the financial means and the interest, you should definitely include this book in your repertoire of linear algebra references. It is a gem, a guide and an indispensable reference for the subject. There is no other linear algebra text like it.

This book is much better than what I feel some reviewers are giving it credit for. Perhaps they have had better exposure than I have to other materials for comparison, but I cannot say for sure.

What I can say is that this book, for me, nearly took the place of the instructor that I had for the course. The book is literally that good at explaining concepts to you and providing relevant examples. I'm not sure what some reviewers meant when they found a gap between the examples and the problems at the end of the chapters, but I did not have this problem anywhere that I can recall.

What I like most about this book, compared to most of the math books I've seen in my day (more than enough, I assure you) is the format of the writing and the exposition of the problems. There are clear, clear connections made between visual and mechanical aspects of the problem. When you are working a linear algebra problem from the book, you should have a good idea of visually what it looks like that you're doing, where columns and rows are positioned, what elements from each are multiplying by the other and what the end result should look like before you get there. I don't typically get this vivid connection between the abstract visualization of the problem and the actual mechanics in other books, but this one poured it on consistently and I really enjoyed that.

The writing style is also casual enough that you don't feel as if you're being led through chapter after chapter of rote and repetition. Instead, it feels like you're being led further and further toward your understanding of the subject and you really are learning something new along the way at each step.

Regardless of what others say, I think that if you have the financial means and the interest, you should definitely include this book in your repertoire of linear algebra references. It is a gem, a guide and an indispensable reference for the subject. There is no other linear algebra text like it.

While its a very readable book I felt at times that the book leaved out some important details about certain topics. For example it gives an example and explains how to prove something yet gives no directions on how to disprove it, problems still require to do it. Another example later in the book is when it explains how to do something, shows an example, then mentions that some problems have multiple solutions but gives no directions on how to approach these kind of problems or how to make sure that you have all the solutions, you're on your own spending hours trying to put everything together.

This was the textbook that my school has been using for its first and second year Linear Algebra courses. I found it somewhat terse. It seems like it could be a great book for someone already familiar with linear algebra or the logic aspect of mathematics; I don't recommend it for anyone who is not very familiar with proofs. Fortunately, it doesn't lack examples of how to solve computation problems and solutions to the odd-numbered problems are provided in the back of the book. Unfortunately, when it comes to the proof problems, instead of just providing the reader with the answer like most other texts, the author will either mention a hint or refer the reader to the study guide (mine came with a disk which has to be installed on a computer), which could be a problem for readers not familiar with how to do proofs. Serving as a somewhat of a mediator between these two extremes are true/false questions which accompany each chapter in each section of the text. While those start out somewhat fun in the beginning, they can also get tiresome and repetive very quickly. The solutions to these, like the proofs, are not provided, but fortunately, all one has to do is read the text carefully in order to determine the appropriate response.

The KAB score: 7.2 good

i'm not going to write 3 paragraphs about how much i love math, and what my fricking sat score was and how many A's i have as most nerds do when they review a math book. i am a math nerd too, but i'll keep the discussion to why i dislike the book (which will be short too, as i need to get back to studying it!)

1. i found there to be a nagging disconnect between the material covered and the exercises. i don't mind difficult problems, but at least appreciate some help from text. if i just wanted to figure it all out on my own i wouldn't have bought the book.

2. the study guide is not very useful. it provides solutions to every other odd problem. true / false answers just refer you back to the book and tell you to check your answers.

3. the text's answers to true/false problems tell you to think about it, then consult the study guide. see 2 above.

basically, i enjoy the material, my prof is great, the book is a big disappointment. if it wasn't for my prof's enthusiasm for the subject i'd be frustrated and not select any additional linear algebra electives. luckily, i do look forward to additional courses as the material is extremely useful in industry, i'm an applied math person.

finally, i searched for another text to supplement my studies and settled on Matrix Analysis and Applied Linear Algebra by Meyer, and look forward to its arrival. my second choice was: Linear Algebra : A Modern Introduction (with CD-ROM) by Poole, and it was a close second. both texts are highly recommended and very focused on applied subject matter. both have well developed websites, ect... but Meyer's text was published by SIAM with a stong focus on how the material is being used in practice. it also comes with a searchable, printable version of the text (and possibly study guide) on the cd.

if you want a balanced view before you buy this text. go to the 3rd ed, not the 3rd ed updated, and read some of the negative reviews in addition to the good ones. my experience was similar to many of those negagive reviews. disappointment and frustration with a very popular text. good luck.