I am aware that many books on differential geometry define tensors as multilinear maps. Namely $$ V\otimes W := L_2(V^* \times W^*,\Bbb F) $$ I am also aware that this space is isomorphic to the tensor product in the finite dimensional case, but I am wondering if it is a good idea to think of tensor products as multilinear maps. Is there any reason why one would like to make this identification in the finite dimensional case? Or does this definition come from the idea that students new to the subject may have an easier time with this less abstract definition?
Thanks