A system and method of creating and presenting mathematical documents are provided. The system comprises an input/output component for receiving user input and for displaying a mathematical document on a display device, a document repository 104 for storing the mathematical document and a mathematical engine for performing computations. The document includes markup that specifies display options. The method comprises the steps of receiving input data that represent characters, symbols and mathematical operations as well as manipulations and presentation control of the mathematical document, displaying mathematical expressions or a combination of mathematical expressions and text in an electronic document, performing computations on the mathematical expressions contained in the document, and controlling the formatting and display of the document.