How many spaces after a full stop/colon?

[teh603]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

Reminds me a physics instructor who thought we were all too dependent on calculators. So we endured the first semester of physics using longhand calculations.

Texas colleges have that rule for all Freshman- level math courses. Calculators don't come out until after Calculus III. Aaaand I might also mention that they're starting to require students take a math class every semester until they're totally done with the Core- so that's a minimum of four semesters without calculators.

The argument is that math "teaches you how to think," while literature is just stuff to be memorized. Never mind that the opposite is true; when there's only one correct way to get an answer, how much room is there for real thought?

[spellbanisher]

Originally Posted by teh603

The argument is that math "teaches you how to think," while literature is just stuff to be memorized. Never mind that the opposite is true; when there's only one correct way to get an answer, how much room is there for real thought?

There might be only one answer, but there are usually a number of ways to get to that answer.

[BeccaPrice]

wars have been started over less. (wasn't there something about the number of angels who could dance on the head of a pin?)

[teh603]

Originally Posted by spellbanisher

There might be only one answer, but there are usually a number of ways to get to that answer.

Maybe when you're getting into multivariable calculus. Every class I've taken was all about rules and formulas (and remembering both), and then just figuring out which one to apply to the problem to get the right answer.

[VydorScope]

I think we should compromise and use three spaces after a full stop, and four after a colon.

[arjaybe]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

I think we should compromise and use three spaces after a full stop, and four after a colon.

I disagree. It should be the other way around, because a full stop is bigger than a colon.-)

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

I disagree. It should be the other way around, because a full stop is bigger than a colon.-)

Its been the reverse all this time, its only fair that colon get some time as being bigger.

[gmw]

I found it: Why two spaces after a period isn't wrong...

• Typewriter practice actually imitated the larger spaces of the time when typewriters first came to be used. They adopted the practice of proportional fonts into monospace fonts, rather than the other way around.
• Literally centuries of typesetters and printers believed that a wider space was necessary after a period, particularly in the English-speaking world. It was the standard since at least the time that William Caslon created the first English typeface in the early 1700s (and part of a tradition that went back further), and it was not seriously questioned among English or American typesetters until the 1920s or so.
• The “standard” of one space is maybe 60 years old at the most, with some publishers retaining wider spaces as a house style well into the 1950s and even a few in the 1960s.

It's a well researched article and quite comforting for someone like me who has two-spaces built-in to their typing habits. But note my previous post, whatever the history, and my preferences, there are certain realities in current publishing practices.

[cromag]

I learned on mechanical typewriters in the 60s, and I learned to use two spaces. It's too hard to change, now.

But when I'm done entering my text in the word processor, I run a "Search and Replace" to change all double spaces into single spaces. Everybody's happy.

[GA Russell]

I too learned on a mechanical typewriter in 1966. I was taught to follow a full stop with two spaces, but a semicolon with only one.

I've never changed.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by teh603

The argument is that math "teaches you how to think," while literature is just stuff to be memorized. Never mind that the opposite is true; when there's only one correct way to get an answer, how much room is there for real thought?

I disagree. Knowing how to approach a math or logic problem, and then reach a provable result, is great brain training, and even in my various HS math classes, we learned several different approaches one might take to one problem.
But I also disagree with the other side, in that literature also can teach you how to think, just differently about different stuff.

Oh, and two spaces after a period. It's how I learned, it looks better when it works, and hurts nothing when it's not needed.
And it hasn't screwed up my programming ability at all.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I too learned on a mechanical typewriter in 1966. I was taught to follow a full stop with two spaces, but a semicolon with only one.

I've never changed.

How do you do it in ebooks?

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by HarryT

How do you do it in ebooks?

Harry, I've never done an eBook. I am slowly writing my first novel using Scrivener, which will do its thing.

[HarryT]

Sorry, what I mean is you may indeed be putting two spaces after a full stop in Scrivener, but when you create an ebook from it, you won't see any extra space. All ebook format are based on HTML, and HTML ignores extra "white space" between words. Ie you're achieving nothing by manually inserting these extra spaces.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by HarryT

All ebook format are based on HTML, and HTML ignores extra "white space" between words.

It doesn't HAVE to just because it's HTML based. I mean, I'm not doubting it does in the app you're using, but HTML does include mechanisms for increasing white space.

In fact, I just tried a straight test in IE 10 and Chrome and they both show the difference between one and two spaces clearly, with no special markup.

Spoiler:

Then there are <pre> tags, &nbsp, and more.