Laurence D. Hoffmann November 2011 I consider myself to be a writer and expositor as well as a mathematician, and these traits led to the original version of this text published in 1975. Before assuming my current position as a Senior Investment Management Consultant with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, I was a tenured professor of mathematics at Claremont McKenna College, where, on three occasions, I was honored to be the recipient of the Huntoon Award for Excellence in Teaching, a best-teacher award determined by a vote of the students. In addition to my current profession and my ongoing involvement with this text, I serve on the Strategic Planning committee of the Claremont Community foundation and on the Investment Committee of the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens in Claremont. My wife, Janice, and I love to travel, enjoy music and the arts, have two grown sons, three grandchildren and two Maltese dogs. I am an avid (but average) tennis player, am addicted to the Sunday Puzzle on NPR, and have been trying for several years to become fluent in Italian. Long ago, I received by BA in mathematics from Brown University and my Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin. After receiving my undergraduate degree at Harvey Mudd College and my PhD from Caltech, I joined the Mathematics Department at Claremont McKenna College, where I have continued to teach, specializing in calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations. I love to write, and in addition to this text have written published texts on engineering calculus and linear algebra. My wife, Jaqui, and I are active supporters of recording textbooks for the blind and dyslexic. We also travel whenever we get a chance and especially enjoy cruising. Our favorite destinations have been Crete, Barcelona, and Singapore. Im a lifelong Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Lakers, and USC Trojan football fan, and write science fiction novels in my spare time. We have two sons, a newborn grandson, and seven cats, although its not clear whether we have the cats or they have us. We also raise foster kittens for a local shelter until they are ready to be adopted, and yes, three of our cats are fosters that we could not resist adopting ourselves.
