All about TeX TeX (pronounced 'Tek') is a markup language for writing scientific and technical documents. It is especially well-suited for typing math. In addition to typesetting symbols and equations beautifully, it is also useful for formatting and cross-referencing the various numbered sections, subsections, figures, equations, and citations you would find in a longer document. TeX is similar to HTML, in that documents are typed in plain text but ultimately viewed as a finished typeset product. In both languages, when you want to change the appearance of an object, you surround the typed text with "tags." Unlike HTML, TeX documents must be compiled before the typeset version may be viewed. There are several flavors of the basic TeX language, most notably LaTeX, AMSTeX, and AMSLaTeX. These are mostly compatible. If you're really curious about the differences, you could check out the following article: (link) To create documents with TeX, you need 3 pieces of software: - something to type a basic plain-text document, which you'll save with a .tex extension - a TeX compiler, which will turn the .tex document into a .dvi graphics file - a .dvi viewer, or software to convert the .dvi into something more portable, such as .pdf or postscript. There are freeware, shareware, and expensive-ware software packages that will do all three of these tasks. My favorite solution for a Windows machine is a combination of WinEdt and MikTex: WinEdt is an inexpensive shareware program (with an indefinite free trial period), a powerful text editor that's specially designed to make TeX-writing easier. - At the writing stage, it colors and indents your text to make the tags stand out. There are many shortcuts buttons for the most common symbols and features (integral symbol, boldface, greek letters, etc). - At the compiling stage, it acts as a front-end for the MikTex compiler, meaning that it calls the MikTex program in the background, and you never have to touch it. There's even a debugging interface for when you have mistakes that keep your document from compiling. - At the viewing stage, it has a built in .dvi previewer, and will convert your finished product from .dvi to .pdf with the touch of a button. MikTex is a free TeX compiler. If you install it according to the default settings, WinEdt will find it on your computer, integrate it seamlessly, and you'll almost forget it's there. It does the dirty work of turning plain text into beautiful math. Without it, WinEdt is not much more than a glorified word processor. I recommend the "basic" MikTex installation, without the optional packages. If and when you ever call a non-basic package for a special document, MikTex's auto-downloader will prompt you to download the special package from the internet, and load it for you automatically. Another, more expensive option, is to use a commercial TeX-writing software packages by MacKichan called Scientific Notebook/Word/Workplace. These are outrageously expensive programs that allow you to write TeX documents in an environment similar to a word processor. For the money, it STILL is not a WYSIWYG editor, and the .tex documents that it creates are usually not compatible with the free ("real") versions of TeX. That said, the learning curve is not as steep, so if you're in a hurry to use TeX without learning it, the program may be worth it's weight in gold. Once you get a finished product to the .pdf stage, TeX-compatibility isn't so much of a problem. My PhD thesis was written on SWP, so I can't knock it. Now you have the software installed. How do you start writing math? - find a document similar to the one you intend to write, and treat it like a template for your document. Compare the .tex file to the .pdf output and see if you can see what commands do what. - google what you're looking for. There are tons of webpages out there with Tex Help. (Be careful when googling the word "latex" and make sure you have something math related in the search, especially if you're in public.) Here are a few good websites to get you started: TUG __ __ Before you even get that far, here are some general pointers. TeX commands usually start with a backslash character. Anything between dollar signs ($blah$) is treated as math. Symbols are typed with a tex command that starts with a slash, like \le for the less than or equal to symbol. Many of these will only work within a math environment, so you type $\le$, or better yet $x \le 4$. Within the document, you have "environments" that are called with a begin and end command. These can be nested. "Document" is an environment, as is equation, table, matrix, array, chapter, section, enumerate (list), center, etc. EVERYTHING in your document has to live inside one big document environment. The equation environment centers and numbers your equation on its own line. Equation arrays (eqnarray) will align several rows along the equal sign, if you put &=& instead of a plain equal sign. Some environments, like math or equation, are used so frequently that there are shortcuts, like enclosing in dollar signs for in-line math, or double-dollar signs for equations. For example: \begin{enumerate} \item This is the first item in my list. \item The second list item has math in it: $x+2=4$. \item I'd like this word to be in \bf{bold} \item Italics are really \emph{emphasized}. \begin{itemize} \item How is "enumerate" different from "itemize"? \item Do spaces matter in math mode? Compare $x+4=y$ to $x + y= 4$. \item Variables like $x$ and $y$ should be typed in math mode. \item Superscript is easy. Type $a^4$, or $p^{14}$, not $p^14$. \item Subscript is easy too. The initial velocity is $v_0% \end{itemize} \end{enumerate} At the top of a TeX document, you have front matter, which is a bunch of code that calls all the packages and styles to use throughout the document, and you might have a preamble, which collects all the info like author, title, abstract, date, email address, etc. to build a title or abstract page, or table of contents. Here's a sample document that you can copy until you get the hang of what belongs up there. XXX Figures can be added to your document, but they have to be saved separately as a .eps file. Adobe software can make .eps files, but not for free. The freeware program xfig acts like Adobe Illustrator, but it's for UNIX. Darn.