Timeline for When did linear algebra become the study of vector spaces?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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| Mar 26, 2022 at 7:30 | comment | added | Dave L Renfro | when math departments were finding at this time the need (due to a greater diversity of student backgrounds) for transitional courses from computational calculus work to proof-based upper level work. Thus, by the time Strang's first book appeared, both levels of LA were (in the U.S., at least) were very widely taught. See this answer for more specifics about "my classifications" of U.S. LA courses. | |
| Mar 26, 2022 at 7:30 | comment | added | Dave L Renfro | Note that the well known book by Halmos was published by D. Van Nostrand in 1958 (the earlier 1942 version was probably not very widely used, as it was Princeton University's Annals of Mathematics Studies #7) and the still widely used book by Hoffman/Kunze appeared in 1961. I have several similar books on my bookshelves, such as by Stoll/Wong (1968) and Ames (1970). I think the evolution of the lower level introductory LA courses began in the late 1960s, and became widespread in the 1970s (continued) | |
| Mar 26, 2022 at 7:28 | comment | added | Dave L Renfro | Strang's first book was published in 1976, and by this time (in the U.S.) even lower level undergraduate courses in linear algebra (LA) were common (I read through about half of the 1970 1st edition of Bernard Kolman's Elementary Linear Algebra in 1975, where it was used for a heavily populated course at a nearby university; the study of abstract vector spaces begins with Chapter 2 on p. 52). I think upper level undergraduate LA courses were phased in during the 1950s and early 1960s at most of the larger U.S. universities. (continued) | |
| Mar 26, 2022 at 3:53 | comment | added | nwr | Strang is an interesting suggestion. Coincidentally, I recently watched his 2020 opencourseware series on linear algebra and he certainly presented an original method for teaching the subject. (Also a rather charming style if I recall correctly.) Still, I can't help but feel that he had predecessors when it comes to the emphasis of vector spaces. | |
| Mar 25, 2022 at 22:29 | history | answered | terry-s | CC BY-SA 4.0 |