Spring 2006

110.201 - Linear Algebra
MTW 10:00  // Schaffer 3
Michael Goldberg


Feedback: You may submit comments about the course at any time using this form which is provided by the Mathematics department. Your comments are then e-mailed to the undergraduate program coordinators and to the department chair (but not to me).


Office Hours: Held in Krieger 206.
M 8:30-9:30am,   T W 1:30-2:30pm,   or by appointment.

TAs: Stephanie Basha, Yifei Chen, Thomas Wright.
Times and locations of all their sections can be found here.

Textbook: Linear Algebra with Applications by Otto Bretscher, 3rd Edition, Prentice Hall.   ISBN 0-13-145334-3

We will cover the entirety of Chapters 1-8, not quite in order of appearance.

Homework: The course syllabus and a complete list of homework assignments is available here.

Homework assignments are due at the end of lecture on Monday. Please clearly indicate your section number and TA at the top of the page. Late homeworks will not be accepted; however the lowest two scores will be dropped when computing your overall homework grade.

You are permitted, perhaps encouraged, to discuss homework problems with other students. This collaboration should not extend to the process of writing up solutions. The work that you turn in should be written by you, in your own words, without supervision or other well-meaning influence from anyone else.

Quizzes: There will be quizzes in section every week when there is not also a midterm exam. These will test your knowledge of the most recent homework assignment, and also the current homework related to Monday's lecture. You are therefore strongly encouraged to get started on homework early in the week, rather than leaving it all to the last minute.

As with homeworks, the lowest two quiz grades will be discarded.

Midterms: In class on Tuesday, February 28 and Tuesday April 11.

Final Exam: Friday, May 12, 9:00am - 12:00m.

This is not the exam time listed on the Registrar's page. Please check your exam schedule here and report potential conflicts to me immediately.

You are expected to attend class and take exams as they are scheduled. Unexcused absence from one midterm exam carries a penalty of one full letter grade reduction from your final course grade. Students who miss both midterm exams, or the final exam, without a valid and well-documented explanation will automatically fail the course.

Grading: 10% Homework,   10% Quizzes,   20% Each Midterm,   40% Final Exam.

Grades will be distributed on a curve, if necessary, to ensure that A-level work is rewarded with an A-level grade. Futher details will be announced following the first midterm exam.

Regrades: Disputes regarding homework grading should be discussed with your TA.

You will have an opportunity to review midterm exams in class the next day. If you believe a grading error was made, return the test paper to me at the end of the class period, together with a note explaining which problem is in dispute and what correct work of yours was overlooked.

Medical Contingencies: Missed midterm exams will not be made up; the other exams will be given correspondingly more weight to take up the slack. In order to do this, I must receive written confirmation of the severity of your illness, and preferably a letter from the Dean's office requesting special consideration. Missed homework and quizzes will generally count toward the two scores that are dropped at the end of the semester.

The Student Health Center recently adopted new guidelines for the issuance of written Medical Excuses. Please read this memorandum for more information. A one-sentence summary is that the Health Center will now only document serious and/or prolonged illnesses for which they have actively provided treatment.

Students with disabilities requiring accommodation should notify me and their TAs as soon as possible so that we can make the appropriate arrangements.

Professor's Editorial: If you've read this far, you're probably a fairly detail-oriented person, and that will serve you well in this course. The basic operations of Linear Algebra -- addition, subtraction, multiplication, and something resembling division -- are all quite easy to understand. The difficult part, if there is one, is recognizing what sequence of these steps will enable you to answer the questions at hand.

Once you have mastered the techniques of linear algebra, potential applications will become apparent in every branch of the sciences. Every time you use calculus, in effect you are replacing a function with a nearby linear approximation. This is the easiest way, and sometimes the only way to get a handle on very complicated problems.

Linear Algebra is sometimes dismissed as being little more than a simple-minded mathematical tool. I can't argue with that. But I would also point out an old saying: "When you're holding a hammer in your hand, the whole world looks like a nail." And if you pound away cleverly enough, it's amazing what you can build with it.