resources

Guidance

Write Like a Scientist by Middlebury’s own Prof. Molly Costanza-Robinson, Alison Maxwell ’15, Prof. Catharine Wright, and Prof. Mary Ellen Bertollini.
Giving a Talk workshop slides by Dan Larremore.
\(\LaTeX\) workshop slides by Dan Larremore.

Writing in \(\LaTeX\)

\(\LaTeX\) (“LAH-tek”) is the technical typesetting software used broadly across the quantitative sciences. The vast majority of papers in computer science, mathematics, physics, and engineering are composed with \(\LaTeX\). If you’ve ever taken a math class here at Middlebury, I guarantee that you have interacted with many documents produced using \(\LaTeX\).

You will create most of your written deliverables for this course using \(\LaTeX\). I recommend two ways to do this.

You can pick a different way, but I recommend doing this only if you are exceptionally comfortable with your software and have already formed distinctive preferences about \(\LaTeX\).

Overleaf is an online service that gives free access to collaborative \(\LaTeX\) document preparation. You can create a free account, supply a template, and immediately begin editing.
You can also edit \(\LaTeX\) on your local machine. For example, VSCode offers an excellent extension for \(\LaTeX\) editing called LaTeX Workshop. In order to compile documents locally, you will need to download the \(\LaTeX\) typesetting software itself onto your local machine.
- Many other text editors have similar extensions or functionality for working with \(\LaTeX\) documents. I mention VSCode specifically because (a) you may have some exposure to it already and (b) it is my personal choice.

If you like easy solutions, choose Overleaf. If you love your editor or being fully in control of your own software, choose a local installation.