Re: Scientific Word Processors

[Hugh Logan <hlogan@ix.netcom.com>]

Joe Darling wrote:
> Would anyone care to recommend a scientific word processor.
>
> The first priority is to be able to efficiently type mathematical
> equations with all of the various symbols.
>
> The second priority is to be able to type a few lines of words.  I would
> gladly sacrifice a lot of the advanced features of the typical word
> processor for the ability to readily type mathematical equations.
>
> The third priority is to be able to make lines drawings such as
> coordinate systems, possibly augmented with circles, ellipses, parabolas,
> etc.
>
> The fourth priority is the ability to import figures or pictures
> from other sources.
>
> My objective is to keep my notes in a computer processible format.  Now I
> write them by hand and  keep them in three ring notebooks.  I can update
> by inserting pages, but revisions and additions are tedious.
>
> I would also appreciate any comments on features I might not have
> anticipated.
The word prcessor that has been useful for me is WordPro included with
Lotus SmartSuite97. It has more features than I have used. I was able 
to do assignments involving tensors using the equation mode. One can go
back and forth between text and equation mode. The mathematical symbols
appear in red, and they are selected from a palette or typed in in some
cases. They appear in frames, the boundaries of which are usually
hidden. The program is WYSIWYG. Using math symbols can be a little
tricky, because the boundaries of the frames are not always obvious -
but they can be made visible. I don't know how the efficiency of the
math processor compares with that of Microsoft Word, which seems to be
more widely used. WordPro does have a rudimentary drawing program. Line
segments, broken line segments, ovals (with circles as a special case),
and "arcs." Drawings can be imported into WordPro documents, but I am
not sure of the range of possibilities.

I use Lotus WordPro mainly because I used its predecessor, AmiPro 3.1,
and I was able to purchase an OEM version of Lotus SmartSuite97 from a
software dealer in Canada for about $45 a year ago. I think the pros use
LaTex that Mark Shapiro referred to, but, being retired, my needs are
not all that great. Before I retired, I found the similar drawing
program on AmiPro3.0 useful for crude diagrams on handouts. WordPro and
AmiPro also allow tables with an arbitrary number of rows and columns,
etc. to be placed in documents. WordPro is reputed to be slower than
Microsoft Word, but that hasn't been a problem for me using a Pentium
Pro 200 MHz computer. Using WordPro might be a disadvantage if you are
in an environment where everybody uses Microsoft programs.

Hugh Logan