Math 198: LATEX for Math/Science

Fall 2006

Math 198, Section 3 Math 198, Section 5

Monday, 4-6pm Thursday, 5-7pm
B3A Evans B3A Evans

Details
Faculty Sponsor: Ken Ribet

Facilitators:

Evelyn Crofts
Cordelia Csar
Elizabeth Dyer
May Mei
Thomson Nguyen (head facilitator)
Aaron Oaks

Course Websites:

http://musa.berkeley.edu/decals/ (Main site)

http://groups.google.com/group/LaTeX-DeCal

Course E-mail addresses:

latexenroll@lists.berkeley.edu (For questions concerning enrollment) latexhelp@lists.berkeley.edu

(For everything else)

Course Description
This class is an introduction to LATEX for uses in math, science and engineering. Our first goal is to help you
type your homework. After this we will introduce you to different types of documents and packages such as
resumes, articles, thesis, and others. We will end with a discussion of graphics and how to share LATEX files
with others. We hope to give you enough familiarity with LATEX so that you have the skills to type most
technical documents in LATEX .

There will be one hour of lecture where we will teach the lesson for the week. After this hour there is an
optional lab hour where you can stay and practice what you learned in class or do homework. This is a great
way for you to work out any problems that you have with what was taught in lecture. We want this class
to be interactive so we will ask lots of questions and we will have you work with partners on many of the
exercises.

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 Math 198: LATEX for Math/Science Fall 2006
Required Text
The only required text for the class is the reader, which is available online at the course website.

Recommended Reading
There are many books about LATEX out there. Here are some that we recommend:
• Lamport, Leslie. LATEX : A Document Preparation System. Addison-Wesley Professional : 1994 (2nd
Edition)

– This book is one of the best we have seen. Its fairly comprehensive and really easy to understand.
If we had a textbook this would be it.
• Braams, Johannes et al. The LATEX Companion. Addison-Wesley Professional: 2004 (2nd Edition)
– This book is very comprehensive and will tell you how to do ANYTHING in LATEX great reference
if you plan to continue using LATEX in the future.

Evaluation Procedures
In order to pass the class you will need to complete at least 2/3 of the homework assignments (8 assignments).
Successful completion of a homework assignment will be getting 50% or above. Each assignment per week
will be out of 20 points. Homework Assignments consist of a LATEXdocument each week using what we
learned in class. There will be two options for the homework each week. The first choice will be
using a document that you have made for another class as long as it has the required contents (things we
learned that week) in it. The second choice will be to do the homework assignemnt for that week. Late
homework will not be accepted.

Homework Submission
Homework assignments will be graded in class a week from the day of its assignment.
Homework assignments will be due a week from the day it was assigned, on the day of your home section.
The first 15 minutes of class will be devoted to grading last week’s homework assignment on the spot. You
must be present during these 15 minutes for your homework to be graded. Your home section
is the section you signed into on Week 0. Suggested solutions to each homework will be posted the week
after, and will include selections from students’ submissions. If you would not like for your homework to be
considered for inclusion in our answer keys, please email latexhelp@lists.berkeley.edu.

Academic Policy
We will be requiring that all of you turn in your source code for the homework assignments. Please dont
copy other peoples math homework and use it for this class. We will catch you if you cheat and there is
really no reason to because the homework doesnt take that long and helps you learn the material better.

Contact
There are five ways to contact LATEX DeCal staff should you have any questions or concerns (listed in
decreasing order of effectiveness):

Mathematics Undergraduate Student Association, UC Berkeley 2

 Math 198: LATEX for Math/Science Fall 2006
• In-person Office Hours
There is an optional 1 hour lab promptly after each section (M5-6, W6-7). The DeCal staff will be
available on hand for questions and problems. This is probably the most effective way to communicate
anything to us.
• E-mail
latexhelp@lists.berkeley.edu is the e-mail address to use for any questions you may have at home
about using LaTeX. For enrollment concerns, please email latexenroll@lists.berkeley.edu.

• Online Office Hours

The DeCal has a screen name on AIM that’s staffed most of the time. The screen name is ineedlatexhelp.
• Discussion Group
The DeCal has a Google Group for discussing the class, answering questions and whatnot. We check
it from time to time. That website is http://groups.google.com/group/LaTeX-DeCal.

• MUSA Forums
The MUSA forums is another good way to post questions on the homework, and is a good way to ask
your fellow peers in addition to DeCal staff for help, although it is rarely used now.

Topics Covered
• Software installation
• LATEX typesetting basics
• LATEX math typesetting
• Tables and matrices
• User-definables
• Packages
• Graphics
• BiBTEX
• fancyhdr, and other useful packages
• Different documentclasses
• Lilypond
• Other items as time permits

Mathematics Undergraduate Student Association, UC Berkeley 3