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Re: Using Mathematica to typeset books

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg125378] Re: Using Mathematica to typeset books
  • From: Murray Eisenberg <murray at math.umass.edu>
  • Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2012 06:18:19 -0500 (EST)
  • Delivered-to: l-mathgroup@mail-archive0.wolfram.com
  • Reply-to: murray at math.umass.edu

On Mar 8, 4:41 am, m... at necomp.us wrote:
 > I'm a newbie to Mathematica. I work with a publisher that is looking
 > to use Mathematica to typeset its books. Is it possible to do this and
 > what are some books that may be of interest. A lot of the books are
 > now set using LaTex but the publisher is looking to set up some with
 > Mathematica and then using CDF for some website tutorials.

If you've signed with a publisher, then the following will be too late...

I have ever-stronger doubts about the viability of printed-book + 
on-line interactive materials, or even e-book + separate on-line 
interactive materials.

More and more I see the future, and indeed already the present -- asthe 
model now set by Apple's iBooks Textbooks. These are electronic books 
that include, right in the text, interactive materials -- including CDFs.

It's just "too complicated" to have separate reading material and 
interactive material. And pedagogically less effective. Neither medium 
fulfills its potential instructive value unless the two are wedded.

I say the above even as one who's authored quite a lot of interactive 
materials -- originally using other software platforms but for some 
years now in Mathematica -- as "supplements" to printed texts.

-- 
Murray Eisenberg                     murray at math.umass.edu
Mathematics & Statistics Dept.
Lederle Graduate Research Tower      phone 413 549-1020 (H)
University of Massachusetts                413 545-2859 (W)
710 North Pleasant Street            fax   413 545-1801
Amherst, MA 01003-9305



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