LATEX is used by many scientists because it outputs great looking equations, avoiding the control characters used by word processors and their equation editors. Many of these scientists are frustrated, however, because writing equations in LATEX is more like programming than writing. Happily, LYX has WYSIWYM support for equations. If you are used to LATEX, you'll find that all of the usual LATEX math commands can be typed in normally, but they will show up in a WYSIWYM fashion. If, on the other hand, you've never written in LATEX, then the Math Panel will allow you to write professional-looking math quickly and easily4.1.