Mathematical Wordprocessing

Here is a quick guide to some of the methods of preparing high-quality text involving mathematics.

Formats

DOC/DOCX

The proprietary format used by Word. Most people have it, and there are free viewers for most operating systems.

Be warned that figures and mathematics often fail to show up properly in files created in Word but read using other software, including OpenOffice. When sharing electronic documents, it is your responsibility to ensure that they are readable; the only reliable way to accomplish this goal is to convert to PDF.

RTF

The Rich Text Format is compatible with Word as well as numerous other wordprocessing programs. Folks who don't use Word often have no trouble with RTF.

PostScript

Adobe's original typesetting language. Easily generated by TeX, and by many graphics programs, including Maple and Mathematica. Can often be generated simply by using a PS printer driver and printing to a file.

PDF

Essentially a compressed replacement for PostScript. Requires a commercial converter from most formats, although it is easy to convert PostScript to PDF using freeware. The widespread availablity of Adobe Acrobat Reader makes this the most portable format for sharing mathematical text online.

HTML

The language of the web. MathJax can be used to generate high-quality online mathematics.

MathML

MathML was supposed to be the gold standard for mathematical web design, but was never fully implemented, and many browsers don't support it. It can be generated automatically from TeX, Maple, and Mathematica, and by the MathType package for Word.

Software

All of the software discussed below is available in the computer lab in the MLC in Kidder Hall, which also has Scientific Workplace, a frontend to both Maple and TeX.

TeX

Developed by a mathematician, this is the gold standard for mathematical typesetting. The learning curve can be steep, however, as it is essentially a programming language. There are several frontends which are easy to use, but, whereas TeX itself is free, many of the frontends are not. However, if you plan to be a mathematician, you should learn to use TeX at some point.

Advantages: total control over format; easy to convert to PDF; completely portable

Disadvantages: steep learning curve; not WYSIWYG

Word

Word handles simple mathematics quite well, and complex mathematics with a little patience.

Advantages: widely available; easy to use; WYSIWYG

Disadvantages: math formatted as objects, not text; proprietary format; not really portable.

Maple

Really a computer algebra system, but sessions can contain formatted text as well.

Advantages: export as TeX, HTML (with or without MathML), and RTF

Disadvantages: not widely available; somewhat cumbersome for text

Mathematica

Really a computer algebra system, but sessions can contain formatted text as well.

Advantages: export as TeX, HTML (with or without MathML)

Disadvantages: not widely available; somewhat cumbersome for text