I am writing a paper and would like to add something about the history of TeX and LaTeX and the difficulties of writing mathematical texts before the creation of TeX. Does anyone have any indication of material (books and/or articles) with this information! I would also like to quote information from the linotype typewriter.
-
7While not devoted specifically to the historical aspects, "The Elements of Typographic Style", by Robert Bringhurst covers many aspects of history when showing elements of modern typography (goodreads.com/book/show/44735.The_Elements_of_Typographic_Style). And a history of Zapf is always a good read: download.linotype.com/free/howtouse/ZapfBiography.pdf– Steven B. SegletesCommented Jul 14, 2021 at 18:19
-
1Before TeX, when I was a grad student, IBM Selectric typewriters were used (changing to symbol balls when needed -- but still easier than writing in symbols by hand). Troff was around then but most profs preferred the appearance of the IBM typed papers. When we finally installed TeX, the typewriters were put aside.– NemoCommented Jul 21, 2021 at 18:03
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
There are two published articles on the history of TeX:
Communication of Mathematics with TeX, in Visible Language 50:2, http://visiblelanguage.herokuapp.com/issue/202/article/1362
TeX: A Branch in Desktop Publishing Evolution, in two parts, in the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing; Part 1: http://www.ams.org/publications/dtp-tex-part-1.pdf ; Part 2: https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2019/02/08726056/1ascitM5OiA
Re composition in metal, Linotype is not suitable for the task of composing mathematics. The preferred machine was Monotype. See
The Monotype 4-Line System for Setting Mathematics, by Daniel Rhatigan, http://ultrasparky.org/school/pdf/Rhatigan_Monotype_4-line_math.pdf
Setting Mathematics, by Arthur Phillips, http://www.metaltype.co.uk/downloads/mr/mr_40_4.pdf
An earlier question in this forum has dealt with this topic: Typesetting before TeX and computers?. This deals mainly with mechanical methods.
As to what triggered the creation of TeX: Where's an example of the bad typesetting that inspired TeX? (More can be found by searching on the tag "TeX history".)
Troff was an early computer program from Bell Labs for typesetting math. It was available only at academic sites with Unix hardware. This question covers the territory rather thoroughly: TeX & Troff a reflection on the history of Computer Typography
There were also several "user level" computer programs available in the early days of personal computers. I'm looking for a question identifying those; I'm sure it exists.
answered Jul 14, 2021 at 21:31
-
The links posted help a lot, however, don't there is still some more complete text with the history of Latex too! If anyone has any indication, I appreciate it!– fsbmatCommented Jul 19, 2021 at 21:33
Take a look at my A Few Notes on Book Design (texdoc memdesign) and section 1.6 Setting Maths which describes how typically maths was typeset in the days of lead type and hand-typesetting before TeX made things so much easier.
answered Jul 15, 2021 at 17:44
