Good typesetting software for linear algebra?

Question

I have broken my dominant hand, leaving me unable to write. Thus far, I have been using LaTeX, but have been disappointed by how long it takes to display matrices, format, etc. Does anyone know of a linear algebra specific typesetting software?

Answer 1

I have published nearly $2500$ pages of books, scholarly papers, manuals, etc., in $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$ (and many many more in memos, internal notes, class notes, etc.). (This doesn't count the current $420$ pages of my next book, entirely in $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$.) $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$ is by far better than any other typesetting software for technical publishing. That is why it is the preferred, or one of the preferred, default standards for the American Mathematical Society, IEEE, and as far as I know every technical society. One trick, though, is to use Mathematica and its user-friendly templates, for instance for matrices, vectors, and such. Then convert it to $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$ source by TeXForm[...]. But I recommend just getting fluent in $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$. It will also help with MathJax on this site.

Three "bonus benefits" are

1. It is portable: you can email your $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$ source to a co-author who uses a different operating system, different computer, even different paper size, and you can easily collaborate.
2. It is free. There are lots of free versions available.
3. It is beautiful... the type, the layout, is so lovely and clear.

I like the following analogy. If you just need to drive across town to shop, a simple car (automatic, inexpensive, easy to learn) will suffice. But if you're a power driver and need to go fast and take lots of sharp corners and hills, get a Ferrari. True, it takes more time to learn, but if you want to do a lot, it is better.

Same thing with other simple typesetting compared to $\mathrm{\LaTeX}$.