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Handy
Links:
Linear
Algebra Toolkit
Math
E-21b syllabus
Textbook
Linear Algebra with Applications,
3rd Edition, by Otto Bretscher, published in 2005 by Prentice
Hall. The ISBN for the text is 0-13-145334-3. It will available at the
Harvard Coop bundled with the student solutions manual. It is also
available online.
Note: It's
possible to get by with either of the previous editions (or the new 4th
Edition) since we'll be posting all of the homework assignments as PDFs.
Compare
prices:
Linear Algebra With Applications, 3rd Ed.
A copy of the text
will be put on reserve in the Grossman Library in Sever Hall.
Program
for RREF
for the TI-82
Go
for a Walk
AMC
Local Walks:
http://amcboston.org/walks
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Announcements: The
course grades have been submitted to the Harvard Extension School. Thanks
to everyone who attended the course!
Excerpt from "Sketches of Boston, Past and
Present", by Isaac Smith Homans, 1851
A
letter to the New England Courant, dated May 14, 1722, and actually
written by Benjamin Franklin under the
pseudonym "Silence Dogood." This was one of 14 letters by
Silence Dogood and concerns Harvard University.
If
you ever need to turn in homework outside of class, we have a mail
slot on the 3rd floor of the Harvard Science Center, diagonally across
from the elevators. The Math E-21a/E-21b slot is at the very bottom of
the black rack and is marked with an orange label.
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Math
E-21b Homework Policy
Guidelines:
Please 1) staple all your pages; 2) write assignment # on the top;
3) include your name.
Grading:
We will grade each problem out of 3 pts (unless the problem has
multiple parts). We will give 3 if the solution is correct and the
write-up is clear, 2 if the problem is mostly done, but has some
error, 1 if you have attempted the problem (so you should always try
to do a problem; something is better than nothing!). Please always
include work you have done that led to the final solution; this way
we can point out where you have made an error.
Collecting
and Returning: We will collect your problem sets and return your
old problem sets each week during professor's break (roughly between
8:45-9:00pm). If you happen to miss a lecture or wish to have an
extension, please leave/pick up your problem sets in our mailbox on
the 3rd Floor of the Science Center (Math Department Mail Box
named E-21b at the bottom of the rack diagonally across from the
elevators). To make collecting homework easier for us, please put
your submitted homework into two piles: Abbott-Kang in the left
pile, Kim-Zhang in the right pile.
Kristen
and Shiyu |
Math
E-21b Course Information and Syllabus
PDF version
Supplement
on the dot product and orthogonal projection
(for those who did not take Math E-21a)
A word about calculators:
Though you can do this course without a
matrix-capable calculator or mathematical software, it's certainly easier
if you have an electronic servant to handle the drudge work. I use a TI-85
(no longer sold, but a good buy if you can find a used one) and I've been
very happy with it. Ideally, you'll want a calculator that can find the
reduced row echelon form of a matrix (RREF). You might also want one that
can calculate determinants, eigenvalues, and eigenvectors, but that's a
lesser priority. The TI-83 Plus, the TI-86
(also discontinued), and the TI-89
calculators can handle these operations. You don't need anything fancier
than this.
One feature that I find very handy is the ability to
display fractions and convert a decimal expression (for a rational number)
to a fraction. That's useful when translating the results of an RREF
calculation into parametric equations for a solution to a system of linear
equations.
Here's a link
that gives a comparison of the various TI calculators.
Other manufactures also produce calculators that will work well with this
course.
Linear
Algebra Toolkit - an excellent online collection of tools that
will not only do the calculations but also walk you through the steps.
(The PERL scripts are written by Przemyslaw Bogacki, Department of
Mathematics and Statistics, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia.)
Useful Links:
Download your free Adobe
Acrobat Reader for reading and printing PDF formatted documents.
Please send comments to Robert
Winters.
URL: http://math.rwinters.com/E21b
Last modified: Thursday, May 28, 2009
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