this is an incredible reference for a machine learning researcher who wants to fill in some gaps in their existing mathematical knowledge. But I would be shock

this is an incredible reference for a machine learning researcher who wants to fill in some gaps in their existing mathematical knowledge. But I would be shocked if this would be of any use for someone trying to learn a little linear algebra in order to play with neural networks. For that I think you still want Strang. I think "foundations" might have been a better word than "basics" here. "Basics" in any case is not in the printed title, only in the filename.