I really enjoyed looking at the examples of old books and manuscripts. But Matplotlib is only the go-to tool for graphs if you are using Python (and some Python users prefer something else). It’s not a universal tool like [La]TeX. The closest thing to that in this sphere would be gnuplot.
TeX appeared when I was in graduate school. Before it did, we were using troff, or whatever it was called, which produced hideous output. TeX was a revelation. That’s why everyone switched to it, despite the hardships endured when trying to get it to do what you wanted. The output looked like a beautiful, hand-set book. There was nothing else that came anywhere close. I wrote my thesis in plain TeX, using a Mac Plus ($1400 with a deep student discount). When LaTeX appeared, the selling point was not formatting, but automatic handling of labels and references. You could add a numbered equation in the middle of your document, without having to re-number, and track down references to, the hundred equations that came after it. Glorious.
Before LaTeX? The previous generation, my professors, wrote things out in hand and gave the result to a secretary. Those with terrible handwriting might type the text, leaving spaces for the math, which they added with a pen. They didn’t waste time time formatting the paper; that was someone else’s job. TeX created a generation of typographical obsessives, including me. Whatever the secretary did wasn’t good enough.
TeX appeared when I was in graduate school. Before it did, we were using troff, or whatever it was called, which produced hideous output. TeX was a revelation. That’s why everyone switched to it, despite the hardships endured when trying to get it to do what you wanted. The output looked like a beautiful, hand-set book. There was nothing else that came anywhere close. I wrote my thesis in plain TeX, using a Mac Plus ($1400 with a deep student discount). When LaTeX appeared, the selling point was not formatting, but automatic handling of labels and references. You could add a numbered equation in the middle of your document, without having to re-number, and track down references to, the hundred equations that came after it. Glorious.
Before LaTeX? The previous generation, my professors, wrote things out in hand and gave the result to a secretary. Those with terrible handwriting might type the text, leaving spaces for the math, which they added with a pen. They didn’t waste time time formatting the paper; that was someone else’s job. TeX created a generation of typographical obsessives, including me. Whatever the secretary did wasn’t good enough.