4/10    What is the class to take to understand inner/outer product, vectors,
        norm induced, orthogonality, etc?
        \_ What you need to do is use your drug of choice while studying and
           then use the same drug shortly before the exam so you'll be in the
           the same state of mind and you'll be just fine.
        \_ It was Math 54 in my day.  (That day being the one after Math
           50AB.) -geordan
           \_ Math 50AB is gone... but 54 is still the one this guy's
              looking for.
           \_ Given that the op said "understand", the answer you probably are
              looking for is 110. If you meant "understand well", the 250AB
              series (B in particular) would probably be useful as well. Or
              at least H110. 54, at least as taught by most profs these days,
              is too focused on teaching basic computational skills to give
              people a good feel for the concepts. -alexf
              \_ i did not take 54 at cal, but my observation was that
                 it was taught in some way that just failed to work at all.
                 i asked reasonably smart people if they know what an eigenvec-
                 tor was after that class, and they had no clue.  if you
                 want a lower division introduction to linear algebra or
                 vector calculus, go to a JC where they hire actual
                 teachers instead of mathematicians who are forced
                 to teach.
                 \_ Sorry but I learned what an eigenvector is the first time
                    Kahan explained it in class.  What's wrong with you?
                \_ Geeze.  Eigenvector:  x such that Ax = kx, where k
                   is the eigenvalue....
                   \_ What does it *really* mean, though? That was explained
                      to me first in Math 50B, although I already knew how
                      to compute eigenvalues from Math 50A (and even high
                      school). So, as always, YMMV. --dim
                      \_ What an eigenvector *really* means depends on the
                         matrix it comes from.  I've taken both math 54 and
                         math 110, and true, they don't teach intuition.  But
                         then again intuition is not something that can be
                         taught, but something acquired through application.
                         For a good introduction, which seems to be what
                         the poster is asking for, read "Linear Algebra and
                         its Applications" by Strang.  If you want to see
                         linear algebra in action, take a computer vision
                         course (CS 280) or a course on semidefinite
                         programming/convex optimization (EE 227 I think).
                         Through all these courses, the important thing to
                         keep in mind is that linear algebra is a *framework*.
                         It's a compact way of representing a certain kind of
                         problems.  Because this model is well-designed, there
                         are certain properties that has some meaning in real
                         life.  Eigenvectors are an example.  -- alice