It's not. For all I care he may write his book without introducing determinants or only introducing them at the very end. I'm all for different pedagogical approaches.
But he writes a paper called "down with determinants" and starts it with "if you think complex matrices have an eigenvalue because the characteristic polynomial has a root, then this is wrong". But it's not wrong, mathematically it's 100% correct! It's just his own personal opinion because he somehow doesn't like determinants.
Mathematics is all about different approaches and different tools, not about "the one true enlightened way", as he makes it out to be. This is why I'm calling it a "personal crusade". Had he just called his paper "a determinant-free approach to linear algebra" I would take no issue.
But he writes a paper called "down with determinants" and starts it with "if you think complex matrices have an eigenvalue because the characteristic polynomial has a root, then this is wrong". But it's not wrong, mathematically it's 100% correct! It's just his own personal opinion because he somehow doesn't like determinants.
Mathematics is all about different approaches and different tools, not about "the one true enlightened way", as he makes it out to be. This is why I'm calling it a "personal crusade". Had he just called his paper "a determinant-free approach to linear algebra" I would take no issue.