Re: Grr Fonts!

anon k <nospam@xxxxxxx> writes:
Bob Tennent wrote:
On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 17:38:19 GMT, anon k wrote:
> Unfortunately so. Springer published dozens of books using them, and
> even after years of habituation, I still find Knuth's mannered
> letterforms horribly distracting. Knuth was onto a good start but to
> set up Computer Modern as the default when it was in this design state
> has had consequences that will remain with us for decades to come.

Complain to Springer. As for Knuth, what alternative did he have when
TeX was first implemented? I don't much like CM myself and I'm pleased
that now there are better alternatives, but in 1980?

I think that the idea is to learn a bit more about type design before
going ahead and doing it in such a public way. Knuth wasn't a stupid
person, but his writings do give a strong air of over-confidence in
typographic matters. It's a pity that he didn't just trace one of the
classic faces as his default.

he didn't trace one, he merely copied it as best he could (one of the
monotype modern series). personally, i don't much care for the
"modern" style (1.5 centuries old now, of course), but it's clear that
knuth chose it because _he_ did.

But the legacy is there now, and we have to live with it. Complaints to
publishers will do nothing to un-print the books already issued.

I recently came across a Springer volume with a few marginalia, being
authors' queries about formatting. It looked like they rushed that
volume through a bit too quickly.

:-)

Ashgate and Lulu are adding to the problem in a different way by having
authors provide camera-ready copy produced in Word. The typographic
expertise is being cut out of the book production process in several places.

you gets what you pays for. if you want a quality book, don't go for
a self-published one; the sad fact is that there are many good texts
that only appear on web servers, because they don't suit the
publisher's current fads. for those of us who (like me) find reading
large amounts on screen a strain, these self-publish engines are
really quite satisfactory.

(i bought a copy of the latex source on from lulu, since my own
printed copy had become tatty. i don't sit down to read the latex
sources much, but lulu don't charge terribly much for that not
particularly wonderfully typeset object. [not the fault of the guy
who uploaded it -- all power to his elbow.] but i can continue to do
what i do without all the tedium of comb-binding all over again.)
--
Robin Fairbairns, Cambridge
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Grr Fonts!
    ... Springer published dozens of books using them, ... Knuth was onto a good start but to ... publishers will do nothing to un-print the books already issued. ... large amounts on screen a strain, these self-publish engines are ...
    (comp.text.tex)
  • Re: Looking for a book about C with special criteria
    ... my students told me that I was the best teacher they ever had. ... The point is that having read many books on programming over the years, ... Knuth is suitable for most nOObs. ...
    (comp.lang.c)
  • Re: Mac advocacy again: Springer changes to Mac
    ... Bild's nearest English-language stylistic and journalistic equivalent is often considered to be The Sun in the UK - the second highest selling European tabloid newspaper - with which it shares a degree of rivalry ... That's published by Axel Springer AG, a newspaper company started by Axel Springer in the 1940's. ... Springer-Verlag was bought by a couple investment groups in 2003 and merged with a Dutch academic publisher those groups also bought. ... They are the biggest publisher of science and medical books in the world, and second biggest publisher of journals. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: Long division algorithm
    ... > journals but doesn't carry CS books [that are actually useful and not ... Actually, you said it was stupid to recommend Knuth, despite it being ... My book is more practice than theory. ...
    (sci.crypt)
  • Re: Good books to read ?
    ... books on human biology and related topics, ... Springer Publishers and really deserve to be read? ... Somehow I was invited to pick out complimentary books from the Springer ...
    (sci.anthropology)