[Alta-Logic] FYI: A New University of Calgary LaTeX Thesis Class based on Memoir

[Richard Zach]

Richard Zach posted: "The University of Calgary provides a LaTeX thesis 
class on its website. That class is based on the original thesis class, 
modified over the years to keep up with changes to the thesis guidelines 
of the Faculty of Graduate studies. It produces atrocious re"


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    A New University of Calgary LaTeX Thesis Class based on Memoir
    <http://richardzach.org/2018/03/26/a-new-university-of-calgary-latex-thesis-class-based-on-memoir/>

by Richard Zach <http://richardzach.org/?author=6432>

The University of Calgary provides a LaTeX thesis class 
<http://www.grad.ucalgary.ca/current/thesis/templates/latex-template> on 
its website. That class is based on the original thesis class, modified 
over the years to keep up with changes to the thesis guidelines 
<http://www.grad.ucalgary.ca/current/thesis/guidelines> of the Faculty 
of Graduate studies. It produces atrocious results. Chapter headings are 
not aligned properly. Margins are set to 1 inch on all sides, which 
results in unreadably long lines of text. The template provided sets the 
typeface to Times New Roman. Urgh.  A better class 
<https://github.com/markwgirard/ucalgarythesis> (by Mark Girard) is 
already available, which however also sets the margins to 1 inch. FGS no 
longer requires that the margins be exactly 1 inch, just that they are 
at a minimum 1 inch. So we are no longer forced to produce that 
atrocious page layout.

I made a new thesis class 
<https://github.com/rzach/ucalgary-memoir-thesis>. It's based on memoir 
<https://ctan.org/pkg/memoir?lang=en>, which provides some nice 
functionality to compute an attractive page layout. By default, the 
class sets the thesis halfspaced, 11 point type, and with about 65 
characters per line. This produces a page approximating a nicely laid 
out book page.  The |manuscript| class option sets it up for 12 point, 
double spaced, with 72 characters per line, and 25 lines per page. 
That's still readable, but gives you extra space between the lines for 
annotations and editing marks, and wider margins. There are also class 
options to load some decent typefaces (|palatino|, |utopia|, |garamond|, 
|libertine|, and, ok, |times|).

Once upon a time, theses were typed on a typewriter and submitted to the 
examination committee in hardcopy. Typewriter fonts are “monospaced,” 
i.e., every character takes the same amount of space. “Elite” 
typewriters would print 12 characters per inch, or 72 characters per 6 
inch line, and "Pica" typewriters 10 cpi, or 60 characters per line. 
Typewriters fit 6 lines into a vertical inch, or 25 lines per 
double-spaced page. A word is on average 5 characters long, hence we get 
about 250 words per manuscript page.

Noone uses typewriters anymore to write theses, but thesis style 
guidelines are still a holdover from the time we did. The guidelines 
still require that theses be halfspaced or double spaced. But of course 
they allow use of word processing software. Those don't use monospaced 
typewriter fonts, and the recommended typefaces such as Times Roman are 
much more narrow and proportionally spaced. That means even with 
12 point type, a 6” line now contains 89 characters on average, rather 
than 60. (Chris Pearson has estimated 
<https://pearsonified.com/2012/01/characters-per-line.php> “character 
constants” for various typefaces which you can use to estimate the 
average number of characters per inch in various type sizes. For Times 
New Roman, the factor is 2.48. At a line length of 6”, i.e., 432 pt, and 
12 pt type that gives 432 × (2.48/12)=89.28 characters per line. With 
minimal margins of 1” you get 96 characters per line.)

Applying typewriter rules to electronically typeset manuscripts results 
in lines that are very long—and that means they are hard to read. 
Ideally, there should be anywhere between 50 and 75 characters per line, 
and 66 characters is widely considered ideal. /Readability/ is a virtue 
you want your thesis to have. And the thesis guidelines, thankfully, no 
longer /set/ the margins, but only require /minimum/ margins of 1” on 
all sides.

view pdf <http://richardzach.org/files/2018/03/sample-thesis.pdf>

*Richard Zach <http://richardzach.org/?author=6432>* | March 26, 2018 at 
11:10 am | Categories: Uncategorized 
<http://richardzach.org/?taxonomy=category&term=uncategorized> | URL: 
https://wp.me/p5U0K1-Dl

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