\section*{} leaves space even at the beginning of the page in memoir

Question

In my document in memoir class, there is a chapter with unnumbered sections --- \section*{}. (The effect is the same if the sections are numbered but \setcounter{secnumdepth}{-1} is used.)

When a new section begins at the top of a page, it leaves vertical space as if the section number were printed there.

I find it odd and would have expected Latex to start at the top of the page in such a case.

Is this an intended behavior --- as in 'Best Typesetting Practice'?

If not, how do I suppress it?

Answer 1

Using \section*{} just to get some blank vertical space is not the best way to accomplish the task; a vertical space is obtained by commands such as

\smallskip
\medskip
\bigskip

In the standard classes \smallskip is 3pt shrinkable to 2pt and (optimally) stretchable to 4pt; \medskip is 6pt shrinkable to 4pt and (optimally) stretchable to 8pt; \bigskip is 12pt shrinkable to 8pt and (optimally) stretchable to 16pt.

You're free to use also \vspace that takes a rubber length specification:

\vspace{24pt plus 8pt minus 8pt}

would be the double of \bigskip.

Remember that under normal conditions these commands should be issued between paragraphs:

... end of a paragraph.

\medskip % leave some vertical space

Start of a paragraph ...

Don't be too generous with vertical spacing: \medskip is usually sufficient.