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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:
HW
#7 (due Thurs, March 25) is now posted in the Calendar.
There
is no class on Thursday, March 18 due to Harvard's Spring Break.
Exam #1
took place during the latter part of class on Thursday, March 4 and
covered topics from Chapter 1 to Chapter 3 of the text. Graded exams were
returned on March 11. The exam results are given below.
Approximate
letter grades for Exam #1
Total points on exam was 60. Median score was 49.
Mean score was 48.2. Standard deviation was 9.0. |
| score |
grade |
|
score |
grade |
| 55+ |
A |
38+ |
C+ |
| 51+ |
A– |
34+ |
C |
| 47+ |
B+ |
30+ |
C– |
| 44+ |
B |
26+ |
D |
| 41+ |
B– |
0-25 |
E |
| Exam
#1 solutions |
| Practice
Exam #1 Solutions |
Math
E-21b Course Information and Syllabus (Spring
2010) PDF
version (Spring 2010)
Our
course assistants this semester will again be Umang
Shukla and Renee Chipman.
Umang's section meetings take place every Monday evening from 8:30pm
to 9:30pm in Science Center 216.
We will also have
a pre-class Q&A session every Thursday starting soon after
6:30pm in Harvard Hall 103. 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.
There
are now 83 students in the course (as of Feb 18).
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.
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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
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: Sunday, March 14, 2010
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