

Others regard the software as too complicated for all but the most demanding of tasks. Proponents embrace LaTeX because of the total control it offers for document layout, or because it represents a blow to commercial software developers, particularly Microsoft. Since its development in 1985, LaTeX has become popular in disciplines such as mathematics, physics and computer science.

The open-source software system - used to create and precisely format scientific manuscripts - is more akin to coding than writing. But for scientists in other fields the merits of LaTeX have largely gone unnoticed. LaTeX or Word? For physicists and mathematicians, the choice is obvious.
