"For those with more knowledge: in what way is Sheldon Axler's "Linear Algebra Done Right" (quoted in the list above) superior to Strang's "Linear Algebra" for

"For those with more knowledge: in what way is Sheldon Axler's "Linear Algebra Done Right" (quoted in the list above) superior to Strang's "Linear Algebra" for the complete novice?" A complete novice should go for Strang. Axler says upfront (in the preface iirc it has been a while since I worked through it) his book is intended as the second Linear Algebra book and assumes you have a base in Linear Algebra (matrix manipulations and so forth) already. Axler depends more on a classical "theorems and proofs" approach. Strang doesn't involve proofs etc and is more ocncerned with funamental operations and building intuition and so (imo) is more suited to the complete beginner.