Another example: Vernor Vinge (sci fi author, and a former math and CS professor at San Diego State) uses emacs [http://www.norwescon.org/archives/norwescon33/vingeinterview...]
"I use emacs, which might be thought of as a thermonuclear word processor."
- In the Beginning was the Command Line http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html
We don't know if it still applies.