Math E-21b - Linear Algebra - Harvard Extension School

Spring 2010

Harvard Extension School
Mathematics E-21b - Spring 2010
Linear Algebra

Course Assistants:
Umang Shukla, Renee Chipman

Handy Links:

Calendar of topics and
homework assignments

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

Announcements:

HW #2 (due Thurs, Feb 11) is now posted in the Calendar.

Math E-21b Course Information and Syllabus (Spring 2010) PDF version (Spring 2010)

There are now 83 students registered in the course (as of Feb 4).

Our course assistants this semester will again be Umang Shukla and Renee Chipman. You should expect Umang's first section meeting to take place early in the week of Feb 8. Details will be posted and/or announced via e-mail.

We will also have a pre-class Q&A session every Thursday starting soon after 6:30pm in Harvard Hall 103 (room could change) starting February 4. The purpose of this session is to resolve questions raised after you have struggled mightily with the homework but were either unsuccessful on some problems or have some doubts. Please don't use this session simply to get answers without having dedicated some time on every homework problem.

If you ever need to turn in homework outside of class, we will 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.

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 generally grade each problem out of 5 pts (unless the problem has many parts). It is always best to attempt every problem and to turn in each homework assignment even if there are some errors or omissions. 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 homework each week during professor's break (roughly between 8:45-9:00pm), but homework may also be submitted via 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). Deadlines for submitting homework outside of class will be established by the course assistants. Any provision for submitting homework via e-mail or otherwise should be worked out individually with the course assistants. Graded homework will be available before and after class and during professor's break.

Supplement on the dot product and orthogonal projection (for those who have not yet taken Multivariable Calculus)

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.

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, February 04, 2010