Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Introduction to Applied Linear Algebra: Vectors, Matrices, and Least Squares

vmls-book.stanford.edu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 126 posts

Re: Introduction to Applied Linear Algebra: Vectors, Matrices, and Least Squares

#21

Post by peteretep »

muhneesh wrote: post #4

I'm e-learning Linear Algebra right now to have a good math foundation for Machine Learning. I was a History and Sociology major in college - so I didn't take any math. If you are like me, and working off an initial base of high school math, I would recommend the following (all free): Linear Algebra Foundations to Frontiers (UT Austin) Course: https://www.edx.org/course/linear-algebra-foundations-to-fro... Comments:…

A bit weird to add a negative review, but here goes:

https://www.coursera.org/learn/linear-algebra-machine-learni...

Is _not_ a good introduction. The instructors are all over the damn place, and you will spend much of your time finding better explanations from other sources. Wish I hadn't started with this. On the plus side, you will get a certificate at the end.

Re: Introduction to Applied Linear Algebra: Vectors, Matrices, and Least Squares

#22

Post by Aromaisn »

hackermailman wrote: post #17
TobiasA wrote: post #11

I'm a self taught programmer with a very weak maths background. What's the best learning path for me if I want to be able to understand and create ML based applications?

There's a practical course for this http://www.datasciencecourse.org/lectures/ anything you don't know, like linear algebra, look up the topics here for a 1-2hr crash course https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm3J0oaFux3aafQm568bl... There's a playlist for a math background in ML for anybody who wants to try a more rigorous ML course https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7y-1rk2cCsA339crwXMW... More information…

Fantastic selection of material here. Also used that YouTube playlist myself and it was incredibly valuable. +1 for archiving these resources.

Re: Introduction to Applied Linear Algebra: Vectors, Matrices, and Least Squares

#23

Post by herostratus101 »

mmmmpancakes wrote: post #18

A book on applied linear algebra with a focus on regression and no mention anywhere of the singular value decomposition??

He does cover SVD in EE263, and all of the lectures for that course are freely available online.

Re: Introduction to Applied Linear Algebra: Vectors, Matrices, and Least Squares

#24

Post by TobiasA »

hackermailman wrote: post #17
TobiasA wrote: post #11

I'm a self taught programmer with a very weak maths background. What's the best learning path for me if I want to be able to understand and create ML based applications?

There's a practical course for this http://www.datasciencecourse.org/lectures/ anything you don't know, like linear algebra, look up the topics here for a 1-2hr crash course https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm3J0oaFux3aafQm568bl... There's a playlist for a math background in ML for anybody who wants to try a more rigorous ML course https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7y-1rk2cCsA339crwXMW... More information…

Thank you so much, this is perfect!

Re: Introduction to Applied Linear Algebra: Vectors, Matrices, and Least Squares

#25

Post by IgniteTheSun »

mmmmpancakes wrote: post #18

A book on applied linear algebra with a focus on regression and no mention anywhere of the singular value decomposition??

This book has a lot of very interesting applications and seems to cover information not normally found in first books on Linear Algebra (e.g., makes use of calculus, Taylor series, etc) and the authors are EEs, not mathematicians. It doesn't, however, cover several topics normally covered in the first year of linear algebra (e.g., vector spaces, subspaces, nullspace, eigenvalues, singular values; see pp 461-462). As with most engineering books, there are no solutions provided.

An excellent supplement to other Linear Algebra textbooks. Given its focus on applications, will hold the interest of engineers and other technical folk but may not be loved by mathematicians who may prefer a more rigorous approach.

Re: Introduction to Applied Linear Algebra: Vectors, Matrices, and Least Squares

#26

Post by pumanoir »

peteretep wrote: post #21
muhneesh wrote: post #4

I'm e-learning Linear Algebra right now to have a good math foundation for Machine Learning. I was a History and Sociology major in college - so I didn't take any math. If you are like me, and working off an initial base of high school math, I would recommend the following (all free): Linear Algebra Foundations to Frontiers (UT Austin) Course: https://www.edx.org/course/linear-algebra-foundations-to-fro... Comments:…

A bit weird to add a negative review, but here goes: https://www.coursera.org/learn/linear-algebra-machine-learni... Is _not_ a good introduction. The instructors are all over the damn place, and you will spend much of your time finding better explanations from other sources. Wish I hadn't started with this. On the plus side, you will get a certificate at the end.

Indeed weird, because the course you mentioned is actually excellent. However, it was designed for people who had (somehow) already seen the subjects in an abstract and unapplied setting (such as a math class at uni). They refresh or refocus the subjects with a geometric intuition and with some concrete applications in mind; which I found quite useful and beautiful. This class is more like a more developed version of 3b1b videos on LA.

Re: Introduction to Applied Linear Algebra: Vectors, Matrices, and Least Squares

#28

Post by thrwmlaccnt »

muhneesh wrote: post #9
flor1s wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget to review calculus as well. Khan Academy is a good start for learning about single variable calculus ( http://www.khanacademy.org ), but their content on multivariable calculus is a bit lacking (neural networks / deep learning use the concept of the derivatives and the gradient a lot). A good supplement for multivariable calculus would be Terence Parr and Jeremy Howard's article on "All the matrix calcul…

Thanks - I am doing that as well! I've been using MIT OpenCourseware for single variable calculus (and will do the same for multivariable). I fenced the parent post to Linear Algebra to not go too far away from the OP. I will certainly check out the Terrence Parr / Jeremy Howard site, and am super familiar with Khan Academy.

When you say you’re going through the MIT OCW calculus courses are you watching the videos or also doing practice problems?

What other calculus resources are you using?

Re: Introduction to Applied Linear Algebra: Vectors, Matrices, and Least Squares

#30

Post by muhneesh »

thrwmlaccnt wrote: post #28
muhneesh wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks - I am doing that as well! I've been using MIT OpenCourseware for single variable calculus (and will do the same for multivariable). I fenced the parent post to Linear Algebra to not go too far away from the OP. I will certainly check out the Terrence Parr / Jeremy Howard site, and am super familiar with Khan Academy.

When you say you’re going through the MIT OCW calculus courses are you watching the videos or also doing practice problems? What other calculus resources are you using?

Watching videos, reading the (indicated portions of) the text, doing practice problems, eventually exams - relying on the resources provided in the OCW site.

To be transparent - I just started the calculus class. I finished the UT Austin Linear Algebra class two weeks ago, and am 7 lectures + readings + 2 problem sets in on the MIT Linear Algebra class and 3 lectures in on the Calculus class.

Post reply on HN