The Little Book of Linear Algebra

Posted by scapbi 9/2/2025

The Little Book of Linear Algebra(github.com)

476 points | 129 commentspage 3

ziedaniel1 9/3/2025|

A little bit too concise IMO. E.g. it doesn't really explain where the normal equations come from and it mentions eigenspaces without ever defining them.

michelpp 9/2/2025||

Beautiful, a great intro to and reference to core concepts. Definitely keeping this one around for mental refresh!

snarfy 9/2/2025|

Yep, same here. It is a good refresher.

tekknolagi 9/3/2025||

In case the author didn't notice, the organization name appears to be missing an L - "litte"

m3047 9/2/2025||

I'd encourage the author to put a pointer to the repo in the actual doc. Maybe I should send a PR...

mugamuga 9/3/2025||

Is there a version or a similar book that deals with Calculus?

tamnd 9/3/2025||

[Author here] We hear you! Here's a similar book for Calculus: https://github.com/the-little-book-of/calculus

In this book, I cover Functions, Derivatives, Integrals, Multivariable Calculus, and Infinite Processes. In addition, I've included appendices with sketch proofs and applications to Physics, Probability and Statistics, and Computer Science.

piperly 9/5/2025||

It is not visible to the public, I think.

griffzhowl 9/3/2025||

Serge Lang's "Short Calculus" is clear and concise, efficiently covering the basics in ~170 pages instead of hundreds of pages like some books. It then has a few more chapters going into a bit more depth but on topics that are also essential if you want to take things further

marginatum 9/3/2025||

The pdf does not open.

rw_panic0_0 9/2/2025|

how is it beginner friendly, first paragraph and already an obscure formula for non math people

cybrox 9/2/2025||

You will never find a level of "beginner friendly" that suits everyone.

I agree that this is not an ideal start - at least without any further clarification - for beginners but I think it works well for people that already known mathematical notation but not many specifics of linear algebra.

Also, I don't want to be the preacher bringing this into every argument but this is one of the genuinely good uses for AI that I have found. Bringing the beginning of a beginner friendly work down to my level. I can have it explain this if I'm unsure about the specific syntax and it will convey the relevant idea (which is explained in a bit of unnecessary complexity / generality, yes) in simple terms.

relaxing 9/2/2025||

I agree. I wouldn’t consider someone who has taken (and remembers) a course in set theory a beginner without some added qualifier.

One of my pet peeves is using mathematical symbols beyond basic arithmetic without introducing them once by name. Trying to figure out what a symbol is and what branch of math it comes from is extremely frustrating.

CamperBob2 9/2/2025|||

I haven't taken any courses in set theory, but it makes perfect sense to me. Once someone tells you that the funny script 'R' means "Real numbers", the funny E means "is an element of", and the vertical | means "given that," that's pretty much all you need to know to dive in.

If those concepts cause difficulty, it probably makes sense to go back down the learning curve a bit before tackling linear algebra. Alternatively, just cut and paste the expression into any LLM and it'll explain what's what.

solarwindy 9/3/2025||||

VLLMs are incredibly good at decoding math from screenshots, if you’re working from a PDF textbook. ChatGPT especially, and since it’s conversant in LaTeX, it can respond directly in the notation you don’t recognize to break it down for you. It even manages with photos of my handwritten scrawl (mostly).

schoen 9/2/2025|||

There are a handful of textbooks that have a nice appendix that defines each symbol (or maybe sometimes tells you where you can go to learn more about the topic represented by the symbol!). That way they can presume that most readers are already familiar but still be helpful to those who aren't.