Scientific Word and LaTeX

TeX is a typesetting language developed by Donald E. Knuth. TeX differs from text processing programs such as MS Word in that it is not "what-you-see-is-what-you-get". Creating a document with TeX is based on a two-step process. In the first step the text and formatting commands are inputted into an ASCII text file. In the second step the the text and formatting commands are processed by a formatting program. The output from the formatting program can then be sent to an output device. TeX has very powerful features for creating technical documents with mathematical formulae. LaTeX is a TeX macro package, originally written by Leslie Lamport, that provides a more user friendly interface between the user and TeX. 

Scientific Word is a very user-friendly Windows based front end to create and manage TeX/LaTeX documents. With Scientific Word the user can create technical papers without having to know the underlying TeX/LaTeX commands. From personal observations it seems that Scientific Word is the standard word processor for writing technical papers in economics containing a significant amount of equations. 

Below are several useful links for Scientific Word and TeX/LaTeX.

Scientific Word

• Scientific Word Home Page

LaTeX

• Getting Started with LaTeX
• Introduction to LaTeX 2e 
• BibTeX Help
• CTAN - Comprehensive TeX Archive Network for LaTeX software and packages
• MiKTeX - MiKTeX is a free and up-to-date TeX implementation for the MS Windows operating system. MiKTeX is a free windows distribution of latex
• WinEdt - WinEdt is a powerful and versatile ASCII editor and shell for MS Windows with a strong predisposition towards the creation of LaTeX documents.
• Beamer - The beamer class is a LaTeX class that allows you to create a beamer presentation similar to PowerPoint presentations. Beamer is now also supported by Scientific Word.
  • The Beamer User Guide (.pdf)
  • A Brief User Guide (.pdf)