David Poole's innovative LINEAR ALGEBRA: A MODERN INTRODUCTION, 4e emphasizes a vectors approach and better prepares students to make the transition from computational to theoretical mathematics. Balancing theory and applications, the book is written in a conversational style and combines a traditional presentation with a focus on student-centered learning. Theoretical, computational, and applied topics are presented in a flexible yet integrated way. Stressing geometric understanding before computational techniques, vectors and vector geometry are introduced early to help students visualize concepts and develop mathematical maturity for abstract thinking. Additionally, the book includes ample applications drawn from a variety of disciplines, which reinforce the fact that linear algebra is a valuable tool for modeling real-life problems.

1. VECTORS. Introduction: The Racetrack Game. The Geometry and Algebra of Vectors. Length and Angle: The Dot Product. Exploration: Vectors and Geometry. Lines and Planes. Exploration: The Cross Product. Writing Project: Origins of the Dot Product and the Cross Product. Applications. 2. SYSTEMS OF LINEAR EQUATIONS. Introduction: Triviality. Introduction to Systems of Linear Equations. Direct Methods for Solving Linear Systems. Writing Project: A History of Gaussian Elimination. Explorations: Lies My Computer Told Me; Partial Pivoting; Counting Operations: An Introduction to the Analysis of Algorithms. Spanning Sets and Linear Independence. Applications. Vignette: The Global Positioning System. Iterative Methods for Solving Linear Systems. 3. MATRICES. Introduction: Matrices in Action. Matrix Operations. Matrix Algebra. The Inverse of a Matrix. The LU Factorization. Subspaces, Basis, Dimension, and Rank. Introduction to Linear Transformations. Vignette: Robotics. Applications. 4. EIGENVALUES AND EIGENVECTORS. Introduction: A Dynamical System on Graphs. Introduction to Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors. Determinants. Writing Project: Which Came First-the Matrix or the Determinant? Vignette: Lewis Carroll's Condensation Method. Exploration: Geometric Applications of Determinants. Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors of n x n Matrices. Writing Project: The History of Eigenvalues. Similarity and Diagonalization. Iterative Methods for Computing Eigenvalues. Applications and the Perron-Frobenius Theorem. Vignette: Ranking Sports Teams and Searching the Internet. 5. ORTHOGONALITY. Introduction: Shadows on a Wall. Orthogonality in Rn. Orthogonal Complements and Orthogonal Projections. The Gram-Schmidt Process and the QR Factorization. Explorations: The Modified QR Factorization; Approximating Eigenvalues with the QR Algorithm. Orthogonal Diagonalization of Symmetric Matrices. Applications. 6. VECTOR SPACES. Introduction: Fibonacci in (Vector) Space. Vector Spaces and Subspaces. Linear Independence, Basis, and Dimension. Writing Project: The Rise of Vector Spaces. Exploration: Magic Squares. Change of Basis. Linear Transformations. The Kernel and Range of a Linear Transformation. The Matrix of a Linear Transformation. Exploration: Tilings, Lattices and the Crystallographic Restriction. Applications. 7. DISTANCE AND APPROXIMATION. Introduction: Taxicab Geometry. Inner Product Spaces. Explorations: Vectors and Matrices with Complex Entries; Geometric Inequalities and Optimization Problems. Norms and Distance Functions. Least Squares Approximation. The Singular Value Decomposition. Vignette: Digital Image Compression. Applications. 8. CODES. (Online) Code Vectors. Vignette: The Codabar System. Error-Correcting Codes. Dual Codes. Linear Codes. The Minimum Distance of a Code. Appendix A: Mathematical Notation and Methods of Proof. Appendix B: Mathematical Induction. Appendix C: Complex Numbers. Appendix D: Polynomials.