> I can't believe he didn't mention Gilbert Strang. This should be the starting point for everyone, IMO.

Not everybody loves this book, you know. A lot of people find its sloppy, disorganized, chatty style quite irritating.

> Not sure the highly theoretical stuff is actually worth anything as far as getting things done, unless you go on to study Algebra and mathematics in general.

You've answered your own question. It's "highly theoretical", not "highly practical". The focus is different by definition.