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As I want to write a short "book" about Analysis I would like to work with a template which is good enough for readability, looks good and furthermore can handle dozens of my theorems, axioms, corollaries etc. by layouting them as good as possible. Can anyone suggest or even provide a good template which satisfies my needs?

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i would suggest using the amsbook document class. it incorporates amsthm and amsmath, and is tuned particularly for use with math-heavy books. several publishers other than the ams (american math society) base their house packages on amsbook.

for variations in the final appearance (while using exactly the same input), there are several ams "author packages" that format the output in the specified style of the different ams book series. all are extensions to amsbook, guaranteeing consistency of input handling and the ability to switch smoothly from one style to another if desired.

there are some differences between amsbook and the basic latex book class, principally in the input style of the top matter and in the inclusion of starred chapter and section titles in the table of contents; these are "house style" matters based on traditional ams practices. these decisions are subjective; your mileage may vary.

amsbook is part of the amscls collection (formerly ams-latex), which is included in the latex "required" components. all are on ctan and in the tex live distribution.

disclaimer: before my retirement, i was one of the maintainers of the ams-latex collection, and principal support contact when ams authors encountered problems.

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  • The link to the AMS site is dead. Worse, within the AMS site itself the links are dead (after searching for "author packages" within).
    – Martin Argerami
    May 11, 2020 at 20:04
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    @MartinArgerami -- Yes, I discovered that over the weekend, and have reported it. The ftp server was permanently disabled recently, but the internal links were not updated; this is awaiting attention. I will update the link here when I get the new information.
    – barbara beeton
    May 11, 2020 at 20:23
  • Did you ever get them? Is this answer still valid?
    – nilo de roock
    Jan 6, 2022 at 9:51
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    @niloderoock -- The linked page does lead to links to packages for particular book series, but the desired series must be chosen from a list. Yes, this answer is still valid, although using it requires more than one click.
    – barbara beeton
    Jan 6, 2022 at 16:47
  • Just wanted to be sure, thank you.
    – nilo de roock
    Jan 7, 2022 at 7:08
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Your question seems a little fuzzy: Readability? Good looks? That's in the eye of the beholder. Likewise, there usually isn't much to a template. It sets up the basic structure of the files that you will input into it (such as the chapters). Since you indicate your book is in Analysis, you should use the amsbook format. TUG (TeX User's Group) has a AMS book template that can get you started. The AMS (American Mathematical Society) has more in depth information to help authors prepare there books in the style of the AMS here. The link to author monograph packages might be especially helpful.

You should also be aware that most schools with math programs (at least in the US) have LaTeX templates to fit their style: example. Likewise, many book publishers have their LaTeX templates: Springer.

The AMS book template link I provided is fairly basic, but since you are talking about readability, it sounds like you are looking for more than basic. If that's so, consider a math book you like the typesetting on and check the website for their style files.

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Here is the free available algebra book from Jim Hefferon: http://joshua.smcvt.edu/linalg.html/ You can download the sources and have a look into the preamble of the document. You can get some ideas or use it as a skeleton for your book.

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From someone who has learned the hard way, I think it is best to start with the minimum set of packages:

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{standalone}%
\usepackage{amsmath}%
\begin{document}
...
\end{document}

I would use the standalone package for dividing your chapters into separately compilable files.

Then add packages only as you need them. There are questions that help you decide What packages do people load by default in LaTeX?.

As you go you'll probably need to select a theorem package (amsthm, ntheorem), a list package (enumitem), and something for doing graphs and figures (tikz, pgfplots). There are plenty of questions here on selecting those, but I included my preferences in parenthesis.

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  • For graphs and figures, I find asymptote readable (C++-like syntax) and powerful. Even when running standalone you can freely use LaTeX (and math!) in labels.
    – vonbrand
    Jan 17, 2013 at 12:39
  • Now, that is a practical answer, sir !
    – nilo de roock
    Jan 6, 2022 at 9:53

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