Talk:Linear algebra

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Linear algebra was one of the Mathematics good articles, but it has been removed from the list. There are suggestions below for improving the article to meet the good article criteria. Once these issues have been addressed, the article can be renominated. Editors may also seek a reassessment of the decision if they believe there was a mistake.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
June 16, 2006	Good article reassessment	Delisted

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Re: Ottoman textbook

@Anita5192: Re: this edit

I figured the edit explained itself, as it is a public domain textbook by an Ottoman mathametician and diplomat, Hussein Tevfik Pasha, from the 1800s. The textbook's title was "Linear algebra" so the connection to the topic is quite clear.

Secondly of course "Unexplained removal" alone is an acceptable reason to revert, but I feel "unexplained addition" is less so without an explanation on why the addition was not good. WhisperToMe (talk) 05:14, 20 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Why is it significant to the history of linear algebra? — Anita5192 (talk) 05:35, 20 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Doing a Google Books search for "Tevfik pasha linear algebra" (some of the pages are not freely available) shows his works being described by books about the development of science in the late Ottoman Empire. The quotes "One of the most important Ottoman scientists in the late 19th century was Hüseyin Tevfik Pasha (1832-1901). [...] of mathematics such as quartanions, the results of which he published in English in a book titled „Linear Algebra" in the year 1882." are from Mitteilungen published by ÖGW, 1997, p. 183. The quote "Among them Linear Algebra written in English by Vidinli Hiiseyin Tevfik Pasha is noteworthy as a valuable contribution to the development of linear algebra. This book, which is concerned with three-dimensional linear algebra and its[...]" is from Science, technology, and industry in the Ottoman world (2000), page 43. He seems to get a lot of coverage from sources based in Turkey, like this one.

Also of consideration is the relative lack of public domain materials. If there are books that are considered to be more influential to the history of linear algebra that are public domain (published in the US before 1923, and/or author died over 70 years ago in most countries), I would really appreciate it if these books are located and uploaded.

WhisperToMe (talk) 06:32, 20 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I also don't think this book was significant outside of the Ottoman Empire, but I might be wrong about its impact. BernardoSulzbach (talk) 14:04, 22 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Applications Source Not Cited or Formatted Correctly

I don't know how to correctly add a citation to a particular linear algebra textbook.ScientistBuilder (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 01:46, 31 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I might be able to help you with this. What is the textbook's name, author, publication date (and edition if there are several)? Anton.bersh (talk) 20:19, 5 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

David C. Lay Linear Algebra and It's Applications 6th Edition. @Anton.bersh ScientistBuilder (talk) 02:02, 18 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Too Technical for Normal Readers

This article is too technical for people wanting to learn linear algebra. I want to create a new article that does not discuss bijections and mappings and other abstract concepts. I want to create an article that gives concrete examples of matrices, vectors, row reduction, span, determinants, eigenvalues, and vector spaces. ScientistBuilder (talk) 02:04, 18 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

While this article should be understandable to a general audience, Wikipedia articles really aren't intended to be tutorials for people trying to learn how to do things. You might be better off working on Wikiversity's content on Linear algebra, that sort of thing is encouraged there. - MrOllie (talk) 02:19, 18 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Use for nonlinear algebra in nonlinear systems

Nonlinear systems can use linear algebra for more than just first order approximations. The obvious example is Riemannian manifolds, ore more generally differentiable manifolds with connections, where derivatives of smooth tensor fields exist to every order.. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz Username:Chatul (talk) 13:43, 18 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Linear Algebra over F₁ ≅ (Finite) Combinatorics

Would it be too out-of-place and whimsical to include the fact (with some explanation) that Linear Algebra over $\mathbf {F} _{1}$ is the same thing as the Combinatorics of finite sets? See for instance M. Kapranov and A. Smirnov, Cohomology determinants and reciprocity laws. I don't see this mentioned on the Combinatorics page either, and I somewhat doubt it would serve much use. Aman R (talk) 13:06, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

What is F_1? —Tamfang (talk) 23:15, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]