inserting symbols

[John C. Love]

When I attempt to insert a symbol, intead of the symbol I get a small
box inserted and not the letter I wanted. This occur with all the
symbols. What am I missing??

 

[Elliott Roper]

When I attempt to insert a symbol, intead of the symbol I get a small
box inserted and not the letter I wanted. This occur with all the
symbols. What am I missing??

Probably a font.
The answer depends on whether you are on Word 2004 (Unicode capable) or
not.
It may also depend on which symbol.
If 2004, try with the OS X character palette. It gives you a chance to
choose a font that has the character you are looking for.