Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX2e, The

Authors	Tobias Oetiker, Hubert Partl, Irene Hyna, Elisabeth Schlegl	Entered	2001-01-08 12:59:33 by bcrowell
Edit	edit data record	Freedom	Copylefted: anyone can read, modify, and sell (disclaimer)
Subject	Q.A - Mathematics. Computer science (applications)
Read	http://tobi.oetiker.ch/ This link was reported to be OK by user arvindn on 2001-07-19 05:19:18 You can't update this URL or report it OK or broken because you aren't logged in.
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Short, sweet, and to the point
by Ben Crowell (crowell09 at stopspam.lightandmatter.com (change 09 to current year)) on 2001-01-12 18:30:04, review #98
http://www.lightandmatter.com

content
better than 80%

writing
better than 80%

The subtitle of this sweet little book is "or LaTeX2e in 87 minutes," but it only took me about 30 minutes to read. I've been a conscientious objector to LaTeX ever since grad school, and I find that if I ever need to liven up a Slashdot discussion, I can always generate a few flames with a remark about how LaTeX would only seem advanced to you if you were used to turning in your work to the Computer Priests on punched cards. Nevertheless, a tool is just a tool, and sometimes even a silly old-fashioned tool is the right tool for the job. I appreciated how Oetiker took the time to explain why LaTeX is the way it is, and did it with a bit of dry humor, without taking it too seriously.

The book gets right down to business, and explains things clearly. Not only does it explain how to do things, it explains why they should be done a certain way. I'd first had to learn to deal with LaTeX because the physics journals I submitted to wouldn't take any other electronic format, but I'd never really learned LaTeX from the ground up. Since then, I've learned a lot about book design both by reading books and from the experience of laying out my own physics textbooks with WYSIWYG software. Although I was a student with a Bad Attitude, I found myself nodding sympathetically as Prof. Oetiker explained what good print design is and how LaTeX encourages it.

As befits a book about how to make beautiful publications, this is a beautifully done book. I didn't notice a single typo, and although the authors apparently aren't native English speakers, the text is nearly always idiomatic is graceful.

Information wants to be free, so make some free information.

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The contents of this web page, except the parts contributed by members of The Assayer, are copyright (c) 2000 by Benjamin Crowell, and are copyleft licensed under the Open Publication License 1.0, without options A or B.