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diff --git a/info/digests/texline/no10/books.tex b/info/digests/texline/no10/books.tex new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..8bdd21632a --- /dev/null +++ b/info/digests/texline/no10/books.tex @@ -0,0 +1,180 @@ +\centerline{\bf Book Reviews} +\smallskip +\noindent +Every so often something good plops through the letter +box. Both the books which I received recently fall into +the `good' category. The first of these was a +particularly delectable item: not only is it by someone I +know, but it's a book about +\sgml\ that is readable. Eric van \hbox{Herwijnen's +}`Practical \sgml' (to be published by Kluwer Academic +Publishers Group) is a very thoughtful and balanced +approach to his subject. Briefly, the background is this: +Eric works at CERN in Switzerland. One of CERN's problems +(besides physics), is in exchanging documents between an +array of different machines both at the Swiss site and at +other similar locations world wide. The approach has been +to encourage the use of \sgml. The book is therefore an +outgrowth of that approach, and therefore covers not only +the {\sl meta\/}-language, but also the software which +may be employed to write with \sgml, and the problems +which were encountered. The {\sl Practical} of the title +is well-earned. + +He takes other systems seriously -- giving fair and +reasonable attention to \TeX\ (so he should, I taught +him!), although his example of using \TeX\ to construct a +memo I found a little idiosyncratic. In a similar way, he +examines how the same formula for the decay of a +particular particle could be expressed in \TeX, |eqn| and +two flavours of \sgml\ DTD (AAP Maths and ISO). Since +one of the criticism's Eric makes of the \sgml\ +applications is that `compound symbols such as $(m_{\eta +c})$ and $(Q_c)$\dots have a meaning to physicists' I was +surprised that he had not redefined them to have a name +which reflected that meaning. Similarly, if you have to +distinguish between `a right arrow and a decay reaction', +why not give them different names? The symbols can remain +the same, but the coding could be different. This is the +advantage of markup, that you can make the intention clear. +But the criticism that Eric is making here is really of the +DTDs, which are currently inadequate. + +One of the appendices discusses the problems which were +encountered in writing a book on \sgml\ using \sgml. This +is a particularly illuminating section and does much to +redress the excesses of other promoters of \sgml. + +This is a +valuable and welcome addition to the literature on \sgml. +\begintt +@book{EvH, +title={Practical {SGML}}, +year={1990}, +author={Eric van Herwijnen}, +publisher={Kluwer}, +isbn={0 7923 0635 X}, +price={\pound24.90}, +pages={307}} +\endtt +\smallskip +\subsection{Introduction to \TeX} +The other book was Norbert Schwarz' `Introduction to +\TeX'. I bought the German version last year (along with +two other German \TeX\slash\LaTeX\ books). This is a +translation prepared by Jost Krieger, a Dutchman. Now +there's something interesting. The first non-Knuth \TeX\ +book in English is a translation from the German by a +Dutchman. And the second may be Bechtolsheim's (another +non-native English speaker). Hint. It does read a bit like +a translation too. I don't think that does any harm. Once +or twice you have to reread a sentence or paragraph to +understand just what is being meant, but on the whole Krieger +has done a fair job. It is very much a book on \TeX. +There is very little about documents. It carefully, and +most often clearly, goes through the bulk of the plain +\TeX\ commands (one or two of which sent me scurrying +back to my {\sl\TeX book} just to check that they really +did exist). Very thorough. But they do tend to present +things without giving a clue of the generality or +usefulness. I did like the fact that the name Baskerville +appears by page 33. + +Many of the examples are extremely practical and useful. +Inevitably there is a tendency to introduce some things +in a brief way in order to develop something more +interesting. Although macros don't appear until Chapter +7 (starting on page 95), they have in fact cropped up +several times in the preceding chapters, with only +rudimentary explanation. The first reference to a macro I +found on page 15, and the first definition is on page 21. +I suspect that developing \TeX\ in a `linear' manner is +near impossible (after all, Knuth had to adopt a sort of +recursive approach), but sometimes I felt the reader had +to take quite a lot on trust. The alternative would be to +illustrate points with trivial examples, and I would have +criticised that too. Perhaps the single strongest feature +is the list of commands, together with an explanation +which forms the `end' of the book. It really is useful to +be able to flick through that, like an glossary of +commands, and then refer either to \TB, or to this book +for more details. A little hypertext version of the +glossary for my Mac would be very useful. + +The authors note the use of |\tracingstats|. +Unfortunately, as Knuth points out (page 303), and they +fail to, not all production versions of \TeX\ heed the +value of the tracing commands. This could conceivably +confuse the inexperienced. In view of Chris Rowley's +comments elsewhere in \TeXline, it was interesting to +read their comment (page 96) `A superfluous pair of +braces rarely has an adverse effect..' (sic). Although the +authors claim that the book should be `a bit more +internationally oriented than a book of English (sic) or +American origin', they don't suggest A4 alternatives to the +built-in |\hsize| and |\vsize|. + + +If I have a major criticism, it is one which is really a +criticism of the publisher (the inevitable +Addison-Wesley). I can see why the problem arises, but I +don't think it an adequate excuse. The book was +inadequately proof read. I suspect the authors themselves +typeset and proof read the book. This is not what we +employ publishers for! There are too many places where the +punctuation should have been tightened up (too numerous to +mention, but note the comma which begins a line on page +37 and the opening quotes round the wrong way on page 150), or +where the english should have been corrected (page 184, +`dipthong' for `diphthong'; page 84, `incontinuity' for +`discontinuity'). There are several cases where * is used +instead of $\times$. Surely the asterisk has not yet displaced +the $\times$ for a multiplication sign? What makes this more +culpable is the inconsistency of using both operators. The +table on page 12 seems curiously incomplete, with one +conversion factor given merely as the decimal point. +Small things, but they make a great deal of difference. + +And surely we don't have to print from laser printed output? +Bromides don't really cost that much more -- if Addison-Wesley +is having difficulty finding a printer, I'd be happy to take +care of the printing from \dvi\ for them. It seem such a +tragedy that the amount of effort which Knuth went to in +providing us with \TeX, the effort that Norbert and +Jost went to in writing this particular book, should be let +down by the publisher who inadequately controls that part +of the process they traditionally handled -- copy-editing +and printing. There might be some criticism too of the +driver used, since it shows up those irritating {\it +dis\/}continuities in the horizontal bar of the square +root sign and the over- and under-braces which +appear to bedevil so many drivers. + +This is a prime example of the orthogonality of form and +content. The content is excellent, but the form could do +with some attention. To dedicated \TeX ies, who know +what's going on, the form will not detract, because the +content is so strong. For the uninitiated, for whom this +book is really intended, the capabilities of \TeX\ may be +obscured. + +Leaving the relatively minor criticisms of content aside, +this is a fine book. Their discussion on tables (chapter +6), the list of `common' error messages, and the glossary +make the book value for money. How much? A mere +\quid19.95 in paperback, for a bountiful 278 action-packed +pages. +\begintt +@book{NS, +title={Introduction to {\TeX}}, +year={1990}, +author={Norbert Schwarz and Jost Krieger}, +publisher={Addison Wesley Europe}, +isbn={0 201 51141 X}, +price={\pounds19.95}, +pages={278}, +notes={see also Schwarz' + original in German}} +\endtt + +\rightline{\sl Malcolm Clark} |