Learning Latex

Rating:
Summary: Material for learning LATEX
Review: "Most beginners in LATEX do not wish to read through a large comprehensive manual. They want a brief account which covers the essential elements of the subject. This excellent book by Griffiths and Higham is the answer. It begins very gently, showing how to produce a simple document, and goes on to cover the basics in an easy-going but rigorous style. Light-hearted touches add some fun on the way. Yet this book is most carefully written and packs a lot into its 80 plus pages. ...the book changes from sympathetic tutor to reliable reference manual. The first-rate index makes the book equally good in this second and more enduring role. ..." -George M. Phillips, Mathematical Insitute, University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

"The book is playful, witty, intelligent, and extremely easy to read. ...Learning LATEX tells you what you want to know, with examples, in sensible, clear, entertaining language. I don't think I have ever seen a better manual. ...Overall, I would say that for more than 90% of LATEX users, all the commands they will ever need are contained in this book, in a smoothly accessible format. ...Learning LATEX should be the first book on the shelf for most people." -Robert M. Corless, University of Western Ontario.

"The book is aimed squarely at beginners to LATEX who wish to learn the basics with a minimum of fuss. It's always clear and to the point. The many examples are often amusing. I like this little book a lot." -Lawrence F. Shampine, Southern Methodist University.

"Learning LATEX, by David F. Griffiths and Desmond J. Higham, is an excellent, easy-to-read introduction to LaTeX, the popular typesetting system used extensively in the mathematical sciences. Although this primer is brief, it covers the essentials of this text processing system remarkably clearly and with far more humour than one normally encounters in computer documentation. I strongly recommend it to anyone intending to learn LATEX ." -Ken Jackson, University of Toronto.

"An excellent introduction for new graduate students and others who are about to write their first mathematical paper." -Charles Van Loan, Cornell University.

"This book is an excellent introductory text for anyone using LATEX for the first time. Especially those writing mathematical papers or theses. It describes and gives examples of the most regularly used constructions but keeps the whole process simple. It is laid out in an excellent progression through the steps involved in the preparation of a LATEX document. The examples given clearly illustrate the points which the authors want to make." -Andrew Malcolm, United Kingdom Meteorological Office.

Here is a short, well-written book that covers the material essential for learning LATEX without any unnecessary detail. It includes incisive examples that teach LATEX in a powerful yet abbreviated fashion. This is the handbook to have if you don't want to wade through extraneous material. This manual includes the following crucial features: -numerous examples of widely used mathematical expressions; -complete documents illustrating the creation of articles, reports, and overhead projector slides; -troubleshooting tips to help you pinpoint an error; -details of how to set up a bibliography and an index; -information about LATEX resources available on the Internet.

Why do you need to learn LATEX ? LATEX has become an extremely popular typesetting system and is widely used throughout the sciences. As a student you may need to typeset reports and theses in LATEX (particularly if you are a graduate student in any mathematics or computer science discipline). Or you may be someone who had planned to "eventually" get around to learning LATEX , but you are still using older systems and methods of typesetting. Procrastinate no more!

The authors have elected to cover LATEX 2e, the latest standard version at the time of publication. The old and new versions are very similar and it is clear that the LATEX 2e version will soon dominate. An appendix discusses the differences between 2e and the older version, 2.09.

Preface; Chapter 1: Preamble. Should You Be Reading this Book?; Motivation; Running LaTeX; Resources; Chapter 2: Basic LATEX . Sample Document and Key Concepts; Type Style; Environments; Vertical and Horizontal Spacing; Chapter 3: Typesetting Mathematics. Examples; Equation Environments; Fonts, Hats, and Underlining; Braces; Arrays and Matrices; Customized Commands; Theorem-like Environments; Math Miscellany; Chapter 4: Further Essential LATEX . Document Classes and the Overall Structure; Titles for Documents; Sectioning Commands; Miscellaneous Extras; Troubleshooting; Chapter 5: More About LATEX . Packages; Inputting Files; Inputting Pictures; Making a Bibliography; Making an Index; Great Moments in LaTeX History; Appendix A: Old LATEX versus LATEX 2e; Appendix B: A Sample Article; Appendix C: A Sample Report; Appendix D: Slides; Appendix E: Internet Resources. Documentation; CTAN; WWW; Professional Societies; TUG; Bibliography; Index.

Readers must know how to produce ASCII files with an editor and have LATEX 2e available. The material is accessible for beginners, and the book covers enough material to be of use to the majority of potential LATEX users.

David F. Griffiths is a Reader in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Dundee. Desmond J. Higham is a Reader in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Strathclyde.

Rating:
Summary: Great investment for the beginner.
Review: I wish I had this book when I was learning LaTeX! It is a concise beginner's guide that will get the reader up to speed in a short amount of time. The book does a nice job of briefly introducing more advanced topics, and where to go for more information. This book will get you 80% where you want to go, and I would recommend it as the best book for any new LaTeX user. As a side note, Section 5.6 of the book, "Great Moments in LaTeX History" is absolutely hilarious!

Rating:
Summary: The best first LaTeX book
Review: This amazing little book is the best introduction to LaTeX (version 2e). It is hard to believe how much useful information it contains; it shows you how to incopporate pictures, create indices, tables of contents, math typesetting, etc. The style is wonderful and witty. The left half of each page shows you what LaTeX commands produce the output on the right half. I've been using LaTeX for a while without really reading any book cover to cover, big mistake and many frustrations.
My best recipe for learning LaTeX is: Start with this book, read it cover to cover, practice it, then move to Kopka and Daly's book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This book, geared for the absolute LaTeX beginner, will have anyone up and running in no time. In many ways it is very similar to Gratzer's small book only shorter and without the discussion of AMSLaTeX. Some of the organizational choices made by the authors, however, are quite puzzling. It's not until the middle of the book that they discuss quotation marks and dashes. That material should have been in the second chapter, though in a book this small--80 or so pages which could be profitably studied for two or three days--I suppose that does not matter much. If you've ever wanted to begin the daunting task of mastering LaTeX, this book along with Gratzer's and Diller's will make you impressively adept in no time.

Rating:
Summary: If You're In a Hurry
Review: This is the perfect book if you simply don't have the time to learn LaTeX properly. At ca. 60 pages, you can get through the volume in an afternoon. It's a painless way to learn to produce beautiful documents.