Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcvax!hp4nl!kunivv1!wn2!eykhout
From: eykhout@wn2.sci.kun.nl (Victor Eijkhout)
Newsgroups: comp.text
Subject: Re: why are all books Times Roman ?
Message-ID: <616@wn2.sci.kun.nl>
Date: 9 Jun 89 09:26:01 GMT
References: <485@hsi86.hsi.UUCP>
Organization: University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Lines: 25

From article <485@hsi86.hsi.UUCP>, by stevens@hsi.UUCP (Richard Stevens):
> Why are almost all technical books done in Times Roman these days ?

Times Roman was developed between 1929 and 1933 by Stanley Morison
and (engraver) Victor Lardent. Morison was able to convince the
Times of London that a more modern type was needed. Times new roman
is an adaptation of Plantin. Types like Baskerville were ruled
out, because they were too uneconomic in space.

The converse is therefore true: TNR looks 'tight' (remember: it's
for a newspaper).

Why is it used for books so much:
- it is a very good looking type
- it is one of the very few types that have sufficient
 mathematical and other technical symbols.

Re: tradition. For lead technology and early electronic
switching type is not so easy as it is nowadays.
Besides, printers would have a feel of some types, and therefore
prefer those above the fickle wishes of the customers.

'Hope this clears the discussion a little.

Victor.