AMS Euler
Encyclopedia
AMS Euler is an upright cursive
typeface
, commissioned by the American Mathematical Society
(AMS) and designed and created by Hermann Zapf
with the assistance of Donald Knuth
. It tries to emulate a mathematician's style of handwriting mathematical entities on a blackboard, which is upright rather than italic
. It blends very well with other typefaces made by Hermann Zapf
, such as Palatino
, Aldus
and Melior, but very badly with the default TeX
font Computer Modern
. All the alphabets were executed with the computer-assisted design system Metafont
developed by Knuth. Work on the design took place 1980-81 with copyright by American Mathematical Society in 1983.
The AMS Euler typeface is named after Leonhard Euler
.
First implemented in METAFONT
, AMS Euler was first used in the book Concrete Mathematics
, co-authored by Knuth, which was dedicated to Euler. This volume also saw the debut of Knuth's Concrete Roman
font, designed to complement AMS Euler. The typeface is now also available in other formats, including PostScript Type 1 and TrueType
.
The family consist of seven alphabets: Text, Greek, Fraktur, Text Bold, Greek Bold, Script Bold and Fraktur Bold.
released version 3.0 of AMS fonts, in which Hermann Zapf
reshaped many of the Euler glyphs, with implementation and assistance from Hans Hagen, Taco Hoekwater, and Volker RW Schaa.
The updated version 3.0 was presented to Donald Knuth on his birthday, January 10, 2008.
These updates were designed to work with the metrics for version 2.2, so no changes to the .tfm files were needed. Since the updates were made directly to the Type 1 files, the (incompatible) MetaFont
sources have been removed from the distribution.
The reshaped version is released under OFL
license.
Cursive
Cursive, also known as joined-up writing, joint writing, or running writing, is any style of handwriting in which the symbols of the language are written in a simplified and/or flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing easier or faster...
typeface
Typeface
In typography, a typeface is the artistic representation or interpretation of characters; it is the way the type looks. Each type is designed and there are thousands of different typefaces in existence, with new ones being developed constantly....
, commissioned by the American Mathematical Society
American Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
(AMS) and designed and created by Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf is a German typeface designer who lives in Darmstadt, Germany. He is married to calligrapher and typeface designer Gudrun Zapf von Hesse....
with the assistance of Donald Knuth
Donald Knuth
Donald Ervin Knuth is a computer scientist and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University.He is the author of the seminal multi-volume work The Art of Computer Programming. Knuth has been called the "father" of the analysis of algorithms...
. It tries to emulate a mathematician's style of handwriting mathematical entities on a blackboard, which is upright rather than italic
Italic type
In typography, italic type is a cursive typeface based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, such typefaces often slant slightly to the right. Different glyph shapes from roman type are also usually used—another influence from calligraphy...
. It blends very well with other typefaces made by Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf is a German typeface designer who lives in Darmstadt, Germany. He is married to calligrapher and typeface designer Gudrun Zapf von Hesse....
, such as Palatino
Palatino
Palatino is the name of a large typeface family that began as an old style serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf initially released in 1948 by the Linotype foundry.In 1999, Zapf revised Palatino for Linotype and Microsoft, called Palatino Linotype...
, Aldus
Aldus (typeface)
Aldus is an old style serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf in 1954. It is named for Aldus Manutius, the famous fifteenth century Venetian printer....
and Melior, but very badly with the default TeX
TeX
TeX is a typesetting system designed and mostly written by Donald Knuth and released in 1978. Within the typesetting system, its name is formatted as ....
font Computer Modern
Computer Modern
Computer Modern is the family of typefaces used by default by the typesetting program TeX. It was created by Donald Knuth with his METAFONT program, and was most recently updated in 1992. However, the family font was superseded by CM-Super , the latest release dating 2008...
. All the alphabets were executed with the computer-assisted design system Metafont
METAFONT
Metafont is a programming language used to define vector fonts. It is also the name of the interpreter that executes Metafont code, generating the bitmap fonts that can be embedded into e.g. PostScript...
developed by Knuth. Work on the design took place 1980-81 with copyright by American Mathematical Society in 1983.
The AMS Euler typeface is named after Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler was a pioneering Swiss mathematician and physicist. He made important discoveries in fields as diverse as infinitesimal calculus and graph theory. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion...
.
First implemented in METAFONT
METAFONT
Metafont is a programming language used to define vector fonts. It is also the name of the interpreter that executes Metafont code, generating the bitmap fonts that can be embedded into e.g. PostScript...
, AMS Euler was first used in the book Concrete Mathematics
Concrete Mathematics
Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science, by Ronald Graham, Donald Knuth, and Oren Patashnik, is a mathematical textbook that is widely used in computer-science departments. It provides mathematical knowledge and skills for computer science, especially for the analysis of algorithms...
, co-authored by Knuth, which was dedicated to Euler. This volume also saw the debut of Knuth's Concrete Roman
Concrete Roman
Concrete Roman is a slab serif typeface designed by Donald Knuth using his METAFONT program. It was intended to accompany the Euler mathematical font which it partners in Knuth's book Concrete Mathematics. It is has a darker appearance than its more famous sibling, Computer Modern...
font, designed to complement AMS Euler. The typeface is now also available in other formats, including PostScript Type 1 and TrueType
TrueType
TrueType is an outline font standard originally developed by Apple Computer in the late 1980s as a competitor to Adobe's Type 1 fonts used in PostScript...
.
Reshaping Euler
In 2009, AMSAmerican Mathematical Society
The American Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, which it does with various publications and conferences as well as annual monetary awards and prizes to mathematicians.The society is one of the...
released version 3.0 of AMS fonts, in which Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf
Hermann Zapf is a German typeface designer who lives in Darmstadt, Germany. He is married to calligrapher and typeface designer Gudrun Zapf von Hesse....
reshaped many of the Euler glyphs, with implementation and assistance from Hans Hagen, Taco Hoekwater, and Volker RW Schaa.
The updated version 3.0 was presented to Donald Knuth on his birthday, January 10, 2008.
These updates were designed to work with the metrics for version 2.2, so no changes to the .tfm files were needed. Since the updates were made directly to the Type 1 files, the (incompatible) MetaFont
METAFONT
Metafont is a programming language used to define vector fonts. It is also the name of the interpreter that executes Metafont code, generating the bitmap fonts that can be embedded into e.g. PostScript...
sources have been removed from the distribution.
The reshaped version is released under OFL
SIL Open Font License
The SIL Open Font License is a free and open source license designed for fonts by SIL International for use with some of their Unicode fonts. The license is considered free by the Free Software Foundation, which states that a simple hello world program is enough to satisfy the license's requirement...
license.
External links
- AMSFonts
- User's Guide to AMSFonts, version 2.2d January 2002, PDF document, 34 pages, file size: about 660 kB, which includes a section on the history of AMS Euler fonts.