You don’t know how lucky you are to be able to begin a LaTeX-document with something like \documentclass[a4]{amsart}. This simple line tells the machine what the size of paper is it has to print to, which part of that paper has to be filled with text, what the design of titles, sections etc. is (and probably more). Just convince yourself (for the sake of argument) that you want to produce a readable mathematical book on paper of dimensions say 6 by 9 inch. How would you do this? Simple : all you have to do is to adjust certain TeX-parameters the way you want! Well, that’s exactly what the neverendingbooks design department has been doing for the last couple of weeks!

The package we would use was easy enough to find. A long time ago, Geert suggested that we should use the memoir package. The fun starts the moment you are foolish enough to print the manual : 300 pages! After an inspiring account of book-printing basics over the ages, you are told that you have total freedom to set your stock paper size, how it needs to be trimmed to get the final result, how you should designs everything from the title, over abstract, acknowledgement, thanks, table of contents contents, dedications etc. down to chapter, section and page styles. In short : ULTIMATE FREEDOM!!!

But, as some of you may know from experience, there is nothing more frightening to the moderate autist (and frankly, are there any other mathematicians?) than ultimate freedom! So, we set up a task-force, had daily brain-storm sessions, produced numerous trial-prints and eventually came out with something that came very close to the better designed book. Let’s face it : can you name me one (yeah right, just 1) well-designed mathematical book? If you don’t believe me, browse through the recent mathematics-books on amazon (as our design-department did for a whole week-end, deprived of beverages and other pleasures). Found anything? Yes?? Please, please let us know! On the other hand, if you browse through the Art, architecture and photography section you will spot several extremely good-looking books very soon. Well, after a week we succeeded in designing the arty-farty-fanshi-wanshi (as PD1 would name it, jealous that she was not in on the fun) mathematical book! And, what did we do with the labours of all this hard work? NOTHING! We simply dropped the whole idea (if you are a graphics-designer trying to survive within a mathematics publishing firm (not easy we know, you have all our sympathy) and want to do something more fun, contact us and if we can reach an adequate financial agreement we will be happy to send you our ideas).

So, what went wrong? Nothing really, it just dawned on us that NeverEndingBooks.org should not go for the better-designed mathematics book. All our (potential) authors can publish as easily at Oxford University Press, the European Mathematical Society or, if they have no moral objection, at the AMS. So, why would they choose us instead of these more established publishing houses? Just because our books look slightly (well let’s face it : a lot) better? Probably not. We, at neverendingbooks.org should not go for the better-designed book, we should not go for the book concept at all, we should invent something entirely NEW & SEXY & USABLE & DESIRING & (I hope you get the drift!). Next time, I’ll let you in on the first ideas of our design-department!

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Posted in general, iMath
Written on Thu, 23 June 2005 at 8:42 am
Tags: arty, brain, latex, mac
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