From: Michael Everson (everson@evertype.com)
Date: Mon Jul 07 2003 - 14:41:21 EDT
At 14:27 -0400 2003-07-07, Frank da Cruz wrote:
>EMACS aside, it's still an interesting question why -- in English at
>least -- it was customary thoughout the 20th century to put two
>spaces after a period
>when typing. I expect it must have been an aesthetic decision. What else
>could it have been?
The typing habit was designed to assist typesetters in reading the
manuscript as they were setting type. Traditionally, the typesetters
never set the extra space.
Sigh. This discussion reminds me of way back to 1984 or 1985, when
"The Mac is not a typewriter" was published. Same story.
-- Michael Everson * * Everson Typography * * http://www.evertype.com
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