Russian Braille Mathematics

The Formal Name of the Braille Code

Система обозначений по математике, физике, химии и астрономии: учебное пособие / Состав.: А.Г. Быков, М.И. Егоров, А.Ф. Голубчиков, Г.Б. Морозова, И.В. Проскуряков; Под общ. ред. Быкова А.Г., отв. ред. И.В. Проскуряков. — 2-е изд., перераб. и доп. — М.: ВОС, 1982.

System of Symbols for Math, Physics, Chemistry, and Astronomy: A Learning Aid, by A. G. Bykov, M.I. Egorov, F.B. Morozova and I.V. Proskurjakov. Edited by Proskurjakov and Bykov. Committee for Exact Sciences for All Russia Association for the Blind. 2nd ed., rev. and enl. The All Russia Association for the blind. Moscow, 1982.

Duxbury Systems has been working with an English translation of an earlier edition of this standard.

Data Entry Considerations

To use the Russian mathematics translator, you must use the math style in DBT to surround the passages of mathematics. Depending on your data entry method, this may be done for you. For example, all LaTeX files show the distinction between text mode and math mode (also called technical notation). As DBT imports the LaTeX file into DBT, it applies the math style to the technical notation for you, simplifying the process.

Working Directly in DBT

To enter your math when working directly in DBT, for a section consisting mostly of technical notation, first, highlight the entire section, then press F8 to apply a style and select math for the style. If there is a text passage within that section that would not work well in a math translator, you can apply to it the style, math-TextInMath. Note that both the start and end style markers of a math-TextInMath passage must lie entirely within the math style. Failure to do so may cause DBT to get lost in the translation (i.e. to do unexpected things).

More About Working with LaTeX Files

When you open a LaTeX file in DBT, DBT's math importer assigns the DBT style math wherever the LaTeX is in math mode, and the DBT style math-TextInMath wherever the LaTeX is text within math mode. For numbers and other mathematical symbols written in text mode in a LaTeX file, the math style will not be applied automatically. You may need to do that manually.

There are many ways to create LaTeX files. Some examples are: using the program Scientific Notebook, and using the program InftyReader on scanned material. There are other possible programs, such as TeXnicCenter, TeXStudio, LyX, and more. Duxbury Systems has long recommended the product Scientific Notebook (by MacKichan Software) because of its maturity and ease of use.

DBT Templates using the Russian Braille Mathematics Translator

These DBT templates all use the Russian braille mathematics translator:

Some of these languages are spoken inside of Russia. Some were spoken in the former Soviet Union. Some are the result of Russian influence in eastern Europe. Some are based on the shared use of the Cyrillic alphabet, and some are based on cultural ties.