Re: Trying to use Mathematica as "word processor" for my math homework
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg44336] Re: Trying to use Mathematica as "word processor" for my math homework
- From: "Steve Luttrell" <luttrell at _removemefirst_westmal.demon.co.uk>
- Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2003 10:01:50 -0500 (EST)
- References: <bo7oud$aj1$1@smc.vnet.net>
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
1. Don't use input cells for your running text. To display maths in running text use a text cell and embed the maths as an inline cell embedded within this text cell. You can start an inline cell by putting the cursor anywhere in a text cell and doing "Ctrl 9" (or Edit | Expression INput | Start Inline Cell). 2. It may be that the page properties are such that there is not enough room for the plot left on the current page (even though there IS enough room according to your eye). Have a look at File | Printing Settings | Page Setup... 3 & 4. You have overridden the default fonts in your cells. If you want to make global changes then it is best to edit the style sheet. This is done via Format | Edit Style Sheet ..., and select "Import Private Copy" to ensure you don't edit the master copy. If you want to have a standard set up for writing a paper for publication you could start with the "Article Classic" or "Article Modern" style sheet (reached from the Format | Style Sheet | ... menu). Use Text cells as your default. Embed inline maths using inline cells in the text cells. Use Numbered Equation or Display Formula cells for equations, and convert these cells to TraditionalForm using Cell | Convert To | Traditional Form in order to get the maths to display in a nice format (i.e. rather like LaTeX would produce, but in a different font). For multi-line equations you can lay things out in a controlled way by inserting a GridBox in the equation (you find this looking like an empty 2x2 matrix on the Basic Typesetting Palette reached from the File | Palettes | ... menu), and you plug whatever you want into the empty gridbox cells ... and I could go on and on ... I find Mathematica can do everything I want in writing technical papers, but it's just not documented in a way that helps you get started quickly! -- Steve Luttrell West Malvern, UK "Bob Harris" <nitlion at mindspring.com> wrote in message news:bo7oud$aj1$1 at smc.vnet.net... > Howdy, > > I have recently returned to grad school, and am attempting to use > mathematica as my "word processor" for my math-related homework. There are > a few annoying things that keep happening to my attempts at this, and I > thought I'd describe them here in hopes that someone would have some better > suggestions. > > For an example of what I've been doing, see > http://www.cse.psu.edu/~rsharris/spamlog/ExampleHW.nb > > My motivations are (a) it will give me a clean output that will be easier on > the grader's eyes, (b) it will make it easier for me to edit changes to > equations, etc., and (c) I can include mathematica-generated plots and > import drawings from other packages. > > I've been doing this with some success from the beginning of the fall > semester. I'm not incredibly sophistocated with mathematica, but have > managed to do this using only InputForm and StandardForm cells (i.e. I have > set the cells to DisplayAs one of those two forms, depending on whether the > cell contains running text or equations). This sort of works, but there are > many shortcomings: > > 1) Mathematica likes to auto format things, so it is difficult for me to get > things to line up the way I want them to. This has made the inclusion of > mathematical symbology in my running text difficult. I think I have > discovered that displaying a cell as Text rather than InputForm is better, > but haven't tried it much yet. > > 2) In many cases when I include a plot, or an imported drawing, when I print > out the notebook I get an unnecessary page feed before and/or after the > plot/drawing. > > 3) Font sizes on the printout don't seem to correlate with font sizes on the > screen. The default size of 12 pt is fine to read on the screen, but is too > small on the printed page. Very surprisingly, it is not as large on paper > as wehen I use 12 pt fonts in other programs. > > 4) Trying to set font sizes on things seems like a nightmare of hard to > comprehend results. E.g. slecting a cell and setting the font size many > times seems to have no effect whatsoever. > > 5) ... others ... > > I've also looked at style sheets a little bit. Like I said, I'm not very > mathematica-sophistocated, and am trying to find a fairly quick solution > that I can implement without having to dig *too* deep (am willing to dig > some, but don't really have the time with my current class and teaching load > to spend a lot of time with this). > > It seems like what I'm after is the same sort of set up that someone writing > a paper for publicatiojn would need. Have looked for such examples, but > have not found any. > > Thanks for any help or suggestions, > Bob Harris >
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