Contrary to what others are saying here, the author says the following: > A rigorous course in linear algebra is an absolute necessity. In the early chapters,

Contrary to what others are saying here, the author says the following: > A rigorous course in linear algebra is an absolute necessity. In the early chapters, one may be able to avoid the need for a modern algebra course but not the maturity it requires. This is a requirement that is rather unusual for a first book in topology, many of which have not a drop of linear algebra. The reason for this is presumably that the book dives immediately into homology which is often left for an algebraic topology course. It's an interesting choice.