Rating:
(33 reviews)
Author: Leslie Lamport
ISBN : 0201529831
New from $30.77
Format: PDF, EPUB
Posts about Download The Book LaTeX: A Document Preparation System (2nd Edition) [Paperback] Free Download for everyone book mediafire, rapishare, and mirror link
This authoritative user's guide and reference manual for the LATEX computer typesetting system has been revised to document features now available in the new standard software release - LATEX2e. The new edition features additional styles and functions, improved font handling, and enhanced graphics capabilities. Other parts of the book have been revised to reflect user comments and suggestions. Selected sections have been rewritten to explain challenging concepts or functions, and the descriptions of both MakeIndex and BibTEX have been updated. New LATEX users will want to start with this book, and current users, particularly as they upgrade to the LATEX2e software, will be eager to obtain the most up-to-date version of its associated manual. Features *Revised version of the authoritative user's guide and reference manual for the LATEX computer typesetting system. *Features the new standard software release - LATEX2e. *Sections rewritten to explain difficult concepts or functions. 0201529831B04062001
Books with free ebook downloads available LaTeX: A Document Preparation System (2nd Edition) [Paperback] Free Download
- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 2 edition (July 10, 1994)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0201529831
- ISBN-13: 978-0201529838
- Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 7.3 x 9.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
LaTeX: A Document Preparation System Free Download
Leslie Lamport's second edition of the Latex manual is helpful, concise, and puts ideas first; it's a great book for the TeX beginner. All essentially topics are covered quickly, in an engaging style.
However, it has two drawbacks. First, the reference section is cryptic and confusing; I recommend keeping the Latex Companion handy for detailed explanations and examples.
Second, too many useful things are left unsaid. For instance, nowhere in this book is it stated that \to is a built-in abbreviation for the clumsy command \rightarrow (the arrow in A -> B); most users waste time making their own abbreviation, such as \ra. But \to is right there in the Latex source, it's simply not documented in this manual. The MakeIndex appendix explains the \index command in detail, but omits to mention the \glossary command (you'll find it in paragraph C.11.5 of the reference section, if you're desperate). The all-important business of add-on "packages", which allow endless customizations of the standard Latex styles, is dealt with in only one or two pages. And so on...
The manual doesn't tell the reader that its style conventions are not obligatory. Thus, curly brackets are pervasive: to type a subscripted list of variables, the book suggests $x_{1},\ldots,x_{n}$. It takes quite a while for the beginner to realize that $x_1,\dots,x_n$ works just as well (and gives the same result). A simple explanation of what is an "input token" would save users a lot of time and trouble.
Final answer? You'll need this book: it's a good book, and it's authorative, correct and concise. But if you need to know more than the basics, make sure you also have the Latex Companion.
LaTeX is a powerful typesetting program, and you need a book to use it (unlike Word). Lamport's book is not a bad choice, but it's not great either. It's well written and has a very good index, but it deals only with the 'defaults', that is, documents written in English following certain (sometimes stupid) formatting conventions.
For instance, if you want to write in, say, Spanish or French, Lamport tells you to type \'{e} to get an accented 'e'. I later discovered through a friend that by adding \usepackage[latin1]{inputenc} in the preamble, you can type accented letters normally. This is only one example. There are many useful things not covered in the book, and I find this annoying. It seems one book is not enough for LaTeX.
Eventually, you'll want to modify some of the formatting conventions in LaTeX, and for that you'll have to 'hack' TeX macros or write them from scratch. Lamport contains only scant advice on this. I was annoyed to find that you can't imitate the book's style (e.g. horizontal rules in the headers) using the commands described in the book. Even LaTeX 'packages' (extensions such as the 'amsmath' style file) are of limited use.
However, I must say that none of the other LaTeX books I've seen is very good. My advice is this: buy Lamport as a tutorial and reference on 'standard' LaTeX, and look for 'extra' information in the net or on your own LaTeX distribution. Even better is to ask an experienced user. As your experience grows, you'll be able to modify the TeX macros in LaTeX's source code to suit your needs.
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