Confusing textwrap parameters, and request for RE help

[Michael Torrie]

On 3/27/20 3:28 PM, Dan Stromberg wrote:
> Back when I was a kid, and wordprocessors were exemplified by WordStar, I
> heard about a study the conclusion of which was that aligned right edges
> were harder to read - that it was better to align on the left and leave the
> right ragged.
> 
> But one study doesn't establish truth.

I've read poorly-typeset, self-published books that were really hard to
read due to the way the full justification worked out.  Not sure if
that's just due to the poor typesetting job (a word processor probably
did it), or the font, or what.  There must be some tricks that
publishers use to both justify and keep the text looking good and
readable.  At one point in the print world, the majority of what I read
is fully justified, yet still quite readable.  Even now I think most
published books I've seen recently are fully justified. These days,
seems like more and more is ragged-right, such as magazines, which is
probably due to the prevalence of digital media where it's probably
easier to generate and easier to read on small screens.