By Michael Downes
This is a concise summary of recommended features in LATEX and a couple of extension packages for writing math formulas. Readers needing greater depth of detail are referred to the sources listed in the bibliography, especially [Lamport], [LUG], [AMUG], [LFG], [LGG], and [LC]. A certain amount of familiarity with standard LATEX terminology is assumed; if your memory needs refreshing on the LATEX meaning of command, optional argument, environment, package, and so forth, see [Lamport].
The features described here are available to you if you use LATEX with two extension packages published by the American Mathematical Society: amssymb and amsmath. Thus, the source file for this document begins with
This is a concise summary of recommended features in LATEX and a couple of extension packages for writing math formulas. Readers needing greater depth of detail are referred to the sources listed in the bibliography, especially [Lamport], [LUG], [AMUG], [LFG], [LGG], and [LC]. A certain amount of familiarity with standard LATEX terminology is assumed; if your memory needs refreshing on the LATEX meaning of command, optional argument, environment, package, and so forth, see [Lamport].
The features described here are available to you if you use LATEX with two extension packages published by the American Mathematical Society: amssymb and amsmath. Thus, the source file for this document begins with
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amssymb,amsmath}
The amssymb package might be omissible for documents whose math symbol usage is relatively modest; the easiest way to test this is to leave out the amssymb reference and see if any math symbols in the document produce ‘Undefined control sequence’ messages. Many noteworthy features found in other packages are not covered here; see Section 10. Regarding math symbols, please note especially that the list given here is not intended to be comprehensive, but to illustrate such symbols as users will normally find already present in their LATEX system and usable without installing any additional fonts or doing other setup work.
\usepackage{amssymb,amsmath}
The amssymb package might be omissible for documents whose math symbol usage is relatively modest; the easiest way to test this is to leave out the amssymb reference and see if any math symbols in the document produce ‘Undefined control sequence’ messages. Many noteworthy features found in other packages are not covered here; see Section 10. Regarding math symbols, please note especially that the list given here is not intended to be comprehensive, but to illustrate such symbols as users will normally find already present in their LATEX system and usable without installing any additional fonts or doing other setup work.
