The Visual Display of Quantitative Information,by Edward Tufte
Starting with Dr. Denman’s and Mr. Swiss’ presentation on “Information and Misinformation†at TAM4, I have been hearing and reading a lot about Edward Tufte’s works on statistical evidence and information design. Having read a few Tufte-quoting books, it was time for the prime material. This book is the first of a series on visual display of data and evidence. I’m looking forward to reading the others.
For me, it was cool to read the original definitions of “data-ink†and “chartjunk.†Reading his explanations and viewing the charts and other graphics he chose for illustration purposes was great.
I’m going to read the other two titles (or three if I wait too long, another one is due out this year), before trying to describe the impact of his writings. I will say that I enjoyed reading Tufte less, having read him after reading him quoted in other works. It took some of the joy of discovery out of the reading.
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