The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics Vpart1

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics Vpart1 The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics vpart1 The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics Part 1: Visions from the history of data visualization (An Ideo-Graphic and Idiosyncratic View) The only new thing in the world is the history you don’t know. Harry S. Truman The Milestones Project The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics Sex: Male 1198 1493 Questions of Statistical Historiography Admit?: No Admit?: Yes 557 1278 Sex: Female Michael Friendly York University http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/friendly.html VIEWS, London, Nov, 2004 Color version of these slides: http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Papers/views/ VIEWS, London, 2004 2 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics plan The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics milestone1 Outline and Plan for Today Part 1: Visions from the history of data visualization Milestones Project: Roots of Data Visualization The Milestones Project The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics Cartography Problems of Statistical Historiography early map-making → geo-measurement → thematic cartography Part 2: Tables & graphs: Some principles of graphical displays GIS, geo-visualization Graphical failures and successes Statistics, statistical thinking Graphical comparisons probability theory → distributions → estimation Corrgrams: rendering and variable order statistical models → diagnostic plots → interactive graphics Effect ordering for data display Data collection Part 3: Graphical methods for categorical data early recording devices Overview: Categorical Data and Graphics “statistics” (numbers of the state): population, mortality → census, surveys Methods for two-way frequency tables economic, social, moral, medical, ...statistics Mosaic displays and loglinear models for n-way tables Visual thinking Part 4: Wither thou goest? Visions of the future geometry, functions, mechanical diagrams, EDA SAS graphics: The power to grow? Technology Statistical graphics: Models for growth? paper, printing, lithography, computing, displays, ... Wider visions Conclusions VIEWS, London, 2004 1 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 3 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics milestone1 The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics milestone1 Milestones Project: Goals Comprehensive catalog of historical developments in all fields related to data visualization → collect detailed bibliography, images, cross-references, web links, etc. 220 milestone items (6200 BC – present) 240 images, portraits 140 web links (biographies, commentary) 250 references → enable researchers to study themes, antecedants, influences, trends, etc. Web version: http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/milestone/ Present form: hyperlinked, chronological listing (HTML, PDF) Searchable by subject, content, author, country, etc. (LATEX→ XML) GFKL Paper: Friendly (2004) VIEWS, London, 2004 4 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 6 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics milestone1 The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics milestone1 VIEWS, London, 2004 5 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 7 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics milestone1 The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics milestone1 VIEWS, London, 2004 8 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 10 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics milestone1 The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics milestone1 VIEWS, London, 2004 9 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 11 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics milestone1 The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics milestone1 VIEWS, London, 2004 12 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 14 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics dupin The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics golden Beginning of Modern Data Graphics: 1800–1849 The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics Playfair’s linear arithmetic (1780–1800): line plot, pie chart, etc. Snow: map of cholera cases (Aug 31–Sep 8, 1854) → Broad Street pump. Adolphe Quetelet (1835) ,“average man” as central tendency in a normal curve. Moral, social and medical statistics collected systematically (1820–) Dupin: distributions of years of schooling; prostitutes in Paris. Broad Street Pump VIEWS, London, 2004 13 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 15 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics golden The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics golden cf. Water in Walkerton: Outbreak of E. coli contamination (May 16–22, 2000) → 6 died, > 2000 ill. Source: undetermined until Jan. 2001 No one thought to make a map! VIEWS, London, 2004 16 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 18 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics golden The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics album “The Best Statistical Graphic Ever Produced” Flow maps as visual tools Movement of people and goods was a consistent theme of most of Minard’s work Data represented both visually and numerically Extensive legends, describing how the information should be understood and interpreted Visual engineer for France: the dawn of globalization, emergence of the modern French state. E-J Marey (1878): “defies the pen of the historian by its brutal eloquence”. Funkhouser (1937): Minard, the Playfair of France. Tufte (1983): “multivariate complexity integrated so gently that viewers are hardly aware that they are looking into a world of six dimensions ... the best statistical graphic ever produced.” VIEWS, London, 2004 17 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 19 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics album The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics march The March Re-visited March on Moscow was part of a pair, along with Hannibal’s campaign Carte figurative et approximative du mouvement des voyageurs sur les principal Aug. 1869: Prussian army invades, Minard flees to Bordeau chemin de fer de l’Europe en 1862 (1865) [ENPC: 5862/C351] Personal meaning: horrors of war, the human cost of thirst for military glory. VIEWS, London, 2004 20 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 22 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics album The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics album Minard’s graphic inventions Population represented by squares, area ∼ population Why the Golden Age? ⇒ Visual center of gravity used to choose location for new post office Statistics as a discipline: 1st International Statistics Congress (1853) [Quetelet] 3rd ISC: Expo. & standardization of graphical methods (Vienna, 1857) la Societ´ e´ de statistique de Paris (1860) Royal Statistical Society (1860) Expansion of industrialization, trade, transport → government initiatives in data collection and analysis. Statistics: Numbers of the State Ministry of Public Works (France): Statistical Bureau (Emile´ Chasson) Similar efforts in Germany, Switzerland, etc. U.S. Census Bureau (Edward Walker)— first US census (1860) VIEWS, London, 2004 21 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 23 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics album The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics stigler L’Album de Statistique Graphique The pinnacle of the Golden Age of Graphics Stigler’s Law of Eponomy 18 volumes published 1879–1899 Les Chevaliers des Album All milestone items are attributed to one or more individuals, but it is hard to 1889: Gross receipts in theaters in Paris, 1848-1889 maintain a claim for a “first.” “No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer” (after Merton, 1973) Laplace first published the Fourier transform Poisson firts discovered the Cauchy distribution de Moivre and Laplace have priority for the Gaussian distribution Epononyms are conveyed by the community of scholars, not historians ⇒ All milestone items are attributed to one or more individuals, but it is hard to maintain a claim for a “first.” VIEWS, London, 2004 24 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 26 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics historiog The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics historiog What counts as a “milestone?” Any history, particularly one of “milestones,” must address the question of inclusion. Problems of Statistical Historiography We include innovations and developments in: Graphic forms Who gets credit? Stigler’s Law of Eponomy Statistical graphics: bar chart, line plot, scatterplot, boxplot, mosaic plot Cartography: isoline, choropleth What counts as a milestone? Graphic content: data collection, recording What is milestone “data?” Bills of Mortality, vital statistics, census Understanding through reproduction Measurement, recording devices How to display, visualize, search? Technology and enablement Reproduction: printing press, lithography Imaging: photography, motion picture Rendering: computing, video display VIEWS, London, 2004 25 c Michael Friendly VIEWS, London, 2004 27 c Michael Friendly The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics historiog The Past, Present and Future of Statistical Graphics miledata What counts as a “milestone?” Theory and practice Probability theory Summarization: estimation and modeling Exposure: EDA Awareness and use Theory and data on visual display Principles of graphics (Bertin, Tufte, Wilkinson, ...) Empirical studies— what works? Implementation and disemination Techniques available and accessible Printing, ppublication,
Recommended publications
  • RUNNING HEAD: Turkish Emotional Word Norms
    RUNNING HEAD: Turkish Emotional Word Norms Turkish Emotional Word Norms for Arousal, Valence, and Discrete Emotion Categories Aycan Kapucu1, Aslı Kılıç2, Yıldız Özkılıç Kartal3, and Bengisu Sarıbaz1 1 Department of Psychology, Ege University 2 Department of Psychology, Middle Eastern Technical University 3Department of Psychology, Uludag University Figures: 3 Tables: 5 Corresponding Author: Aycan Kapucu Department of Psychology, Ege University Ege Universitesi Edebiyat Fakultesi Psikoloji Bolumu, Kampus, Bornova, 35400, Izmir, Turkey Phone: +902323111340 Email: [email protected] Turkish Emotional Word Norms 2 Abstract The present study combined dimensional and categorical approaches to emotion to develop normative ratings for a large set of Turkish words on two major dimensions of emotion: arousal and valence, as well as on five basic emotion categories of happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. A set of 2031 Turkish words obtained by translating ANEW (Bradley & Lang, 1999) words to Turkish and pooling from the Turkish Word Norms (Tekcan & Göz, 2005) were rated by a large sample of 1685 participants. This is the first comprehensive and standardized word set in Turkish offering discrete emotional ratings in addition to dimensional ratings along with concreteness judgments. Consistent with ANEW and word databases in several other languages, arousal increased as valence became more positive or more negative. As expected, negative emotions (anger, sadness, fear, and disgust) were positively correlated with each other; whereas the
    [Show full text]
  • Visualiation of Quantitative Information
    Visualisation of quantitative information Overview 1. Visualisation 2. Approaching data 3. Levels of measurement 4. Principals of graphing 5. Univariate graphs 6. Graphical integrity James Neill, 2011 2 Is Pivot a turning point for web exploration? (Gary Flake) (TED talk - 6 min. ) 4 Approaching Entering & data screening Approaching Exploring, describing, & data graphing Hypothesis testing 5 6 Describing & graphing data THE CHALLENGE: to find a meaningful, accurate way to depict the ‘true story’ of the data 7 Clearly report the data's main features 10 Levels of measurement • Nominal / Categorical • Ordinal • Interval • Ratio 12 Discrete vs. continuous Discrete - - - - - - - - - - Continuous ___________ Each level has the properties of the preceding 14 13 levels, plus something more! Categorical / nominal Ordinal / ranked scale • Conveys a category label • Conveys order , but not distance • (Arbitrary) assignment of #s to e.g. in a race, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. or categories ranking of favourites or preferences e.g. Gender • No useful information, except as labels 15 16 Ordinal / ranked example: Ranked importance Interval scale Rank the following aspects of the university according to what is most • Conveys order & distance important to you (1 = most important • 0 is arbitrary through to 5 = least important) e.g., temperature (degrees C) __ Quality of the teaching and education • Usually treat as continuous for > 5 __ Quality of the social life intervals __ Quality of the campus __ Quality of the administration __ Quality of the university's reputation 17 18 Interval example: 8 point Likert scale Ratio scale • Conveys order & distance • Continuous, with a meaningful 0 point e.g. height, age, weight, time, number of times an event has occurred • Ratio statements can be made e.g.
    [Show full text]
  • A Brief History of Data Visualization
    ABriefHistory II.1 of Data Visualization Michael Friendly 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 16 1.2 Milestones Tour ................................................................................... 17 Pre-17th Century: Early Maps and Diagrams ............................................. 17 1600–1699: Measurement and Theory ..................................................... 19 1700–1799: New Graphic Forms .............................................................. 22 1800–1850: Beginnings of Modern Graphics ............................................ 25 1850–1900: The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics................................... 28 1900–1950: The Modern Dark Ages ......................................................... 37 1950–1975: Rebirth of Data Visualization ................................................. 39 1975–present: High-D, Interactive and Dynamic Data Visualization ........... 40 1.3 Statistical Historiography .................................................................. 42 History as ‘Data’ ...................................................................................... 42 Analysing Milestones Data ...................................................................... 43 What Was He Thinking? – Understanding Through Reproduction.............. 45 1.4 Final Thoughts .................................................................................... 48 16 Michael Friendly It is common to think of statistical graphics and data
    [Show full text]
  • The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics Michael Friendly Psych 6135 the Golden Age: ~ 1850 -- 1900
    The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics Michael Friendly Psych 6135 http://euclid.psych.yorku.ca/www/psy6135 The Golden Age: ~ 1850 -- 1900 Why do I call this the “Golden Age of Statistical Graphics”? The most obvious is as a peak in developments over the course of history. 2 What makes an “Age”? What makes one “Golden”? • Age: ▪ Qualitatively distinct from before & after • Golden age: ▪ Recognizable period in a field where great tasks were accomplished ▪ Years following some innovations ▪ Artists apply skills to new areas ▪ New ideas expressed, art forms flourish ▪ Often ends with some turning point event(s) 3 Some Golden Ages • Athens (Pericles): 448 BC— 404 BC: growth & culture • Islam: 750—1258 (sack of Baghdad): science, … • England: Elizabeth I (1558- 1603): literature, poetry, … • Piracy: 1690--1730 • Radio: 1920—1940 • Animation: 1928 (sound) – 1960s (TV) • Senior citizens: 60+ Pietro Da Cortona, The Golden Age (Fresco, Sala 4 della Stufa, Palazzo Pitti, Florence) Preludes to the Golden Age Infrastructure required: • Data: collection & dissemination • Statistical theory: combining & summarizing quantitative information • Technology: printing & reproduction of maps & diagrams • Visual language: new graphic forms for maps and diagrams • → a perfect storm for data graphics What does this imply for today? 5 Preludes: data “Data! Data! I can’t make bricks without clay.” – • Population: ~ 1660-- Sherlock Holmes, Copper Beeches ▪ Bills of mortality: Graunt (1662) ▪ Political arithmetic: Petty (1665) ▪ Demography: Süssmilch (1741) • Economic
    [Show full text]
  • Commemorating William Playfair's 250Th Birthday
    Comput Stat DOI 10.1007/s00180-009-0170-z EDITORIAL Commemorating William Playfair’s 250th birthday Jürgen Symanzik · William Fischetti · Ian Spence Received: 1 September 2009 / Accepted: 2 September 2009 © Springer-Verlag 2009 1 William Playfair’s legacy In this editorial, we want to commemorate the 250th birthday of William Playfair. According to pages 564–566 of the June 1823 issue of the Gentleman’s Magazine and to Scott (1925, p. 348), Playfair was born on September 22, 1759, near the city of Dundee in Scotland, and he died on February 11, 1823, in London. For readers not familiar with William Playfair and his work, we would suggest to first refer to Appendix 1 and then continue with the main editorial. Towards the end of the 19th century, Playfair and his work were mostly forgotten. In the discussion of a paper on tabular analysis by William A. Guy (an editor, physician, and statistician), the English economist and statistician W. Stanley Jevons said (see Jevons’ comment on p. 657 of Guy 1879) that “Englishmen lost sight of the fact that William Playfair, who had never been heard of in this generation, produced statistical atlases and statistical curves that ought to be treated by some writer in the same way Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00180-009-0170-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. J. Symanzik (B) Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Utah State University, 3900 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-3900, USA e-mail: [email protected] W.
    [Show full text]
  • Infographics As Images: Meaningfulness Beyond Information †
    Proceedings Infographics as Images: Meaningfulness beyond Information † Valeria Burgio *and Matteo Moretti Faculty of Design and Art. Libera Università di Bolzano; Piazza Università, 39100 Bolzano Bozen, Italy; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] † Presented at the International and Interdisciplinary Conference IMMAGINI? Image and Imagination between Representation, Communication, Education and Psychology, Brixen, Italy, 27–28 November 2017. Published: 10 November 2017 Abstract: What kind of images are data visualizations? Are they mere abstract transformations of numerical data? Should they reduce the phenomenal world into a set of pre-codified shapes? Or can they represent natural phenomena through figurative strategies? What is the boundary between useless decoration, narrative illustration and helpful visual metaphors? Through post-design reflections on a visual journalism project, the paper focuses on the context-dependent role of images in data visualization. Keywords: data visualization; visual journalism; illustration and decoration; abstraction and pictographic communication 1. Introduction What kind of images are data visualizations? Are they mere abstract transformations of numerical data? Should they reduce the phenomenal world into a set of pre-codified shapes? Or can they represent natural phenomena through figurative strategies? Where does the boundary lie between useless decoration, narrative illustration and helpful visual metaphors? Since the theoretical work and practical implementation of Otto Neurath [1,2], much has been argued about the necessary balance between scientific accuracy and communicational efficiency in data visualization. Since then, how to translate quantitative information into readable graphs has been the terrain for debate between the advocates of dryness and objectivity [3–5] and the defenders of a more playful and inventive approach [6,7].
    [Show full text]
  • An Overview of Information Visualization
    Chapter 1 An Overview of Information Visualization n this chapter, readers will be provided with an maps were used to aid navigation and exploration. overview that covers the history, evolution, and def- From that point on, information visualization has Iinition of information visualization. Chapter 2 will evolved considerably, with each century bringing new introduce and address the fundamental concepts and methodologies into the equation. The seventeenth knowledge in information visualization, including century saw the rise of analytic geometry, as well major visualization principles, types, and techniques. as the birth of measurements and theories that were A special focus will be placed on the introduction of used to estimate time, distance, and space. It was also emerging software tools, such as Tableau and Google during this period that significant fields of study and Charts. information processing were founded, including esti- In chapters 3 and 4, insight into the applications mation, probability, demography, and the entire field and practices of information visualization in libraries of statistics. All of these things significantly advanced will be covered, with chapter 3 specifically describing the way solutions were made, thereby paving the way the driving forces that necessitate information visual- for visual thinking. ization in libraries and current trends and directions. The birth of visual thinking was followed by Chapter 4 presents real-world cases in which informa- expansion in the use of economic statistics that tion visualization is used to improve library activities, involved the use of numbers pertaining to social, services, and programs. It also addresses user experi- moral, medical, and other statistics. These figures ReportsLibrary Technology ence enhancements via better data interpretation, dis- were used for governmental response, such as pol- covery, and understanding.
    [Show full text]
  • A Brief History of Data Visualization
    A Brief History of Data Visualization Michael Friendly Psychology Department and Statistical Consulting Service York University 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M3J 1P3 in: Handbook of Computational Statistics: Data Visualization. See also BIBTEX entry below. BIBTEX: @InCollection{Friendly:06:hbook, author = {M. Friendly}, title = {A Brief History of Data Visualization}, year = {2006}, publisher = {Springer-Verlag}, address = {Heidelberg}, booktitle = {Handbook of Computational Statistics: Data Visualization}, volume = {III}, editor = {C. Chen and W. H\"ardle and A Unwin}, pages = {???--???}, note = {(In press)}, } © copyright by the author(s) document created on: March 21, 2006 created from file: hbook.tex cover page automatically created with CoverPage.sty (available at your favourite CTAN mirror) A brief history of data visualization Michael Friendly∗ March 21, 2006 Abstract It is common to think of statistical graphics and data visualization as relatively modern developments in statistics. In fact, the graphic representation of quantitative information has deep roots. These roots reach into the histories of the earliest map-making and visual depiction, and later into thematic cartography, statistics and statistical graphics, medicine, and other fields. Along the way, developments in technologies (printing, reproduction) mathematical theory and practice, and empirical observation and recording, enabled the wider use of graphics and new advances in form and content. This chapter provides an overview of the intellectual history of data visualization from medieval to modern times, describing and illustrating some significant advances along the way. It is based on a project, called the Milestones Project, to collect, catalog and document in one place the important developments in a wide range of areas and fields that led to mod- ern data visualization.
    [Show full text]
  • Identification of Causality in Genetics and Neuroscience Adèle Helena
    Identification of Causality in Genetics and Neuroscience Adèle Helena Ribeiro Dissertation presented to the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics of the University of São Paulo in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy Program: Computer Science Advisor: Prof. Dr. André Fujita Co-Advisor: Prof. Dr. Júlia Maria Pavan Soler The author acknowledges financial support provided by CAPES Computational Biology grant no. 51/2013 and by PDSE/CAPES process no. 88881.132356/2016-01 São Paulo, November 2018 Identification of Causality in Genetics and Neuroscience This is the corrected version of the Ph.D. dissertation by Adèle Helena Ribeiro, as suggested by the committee members during the defense of the original document, on November 28, 2018. Dissertation committee members: Prof. Dr. André Fujita – IME - USP Profa. Dra. Julia Maria Pavan Soler – IME - USP Prof. Dr. Benilton de Sá Carvalho – IMECC - UNICAMP Prof. Dr. Luiz Antonio Baccala – EPUSP - USP Prof. Dr. Koichi Sameshima – FM - USP Acknowledgments First, I thank my advisor Prof. André Fujita for all his support. He always provided me with many opportunities to grow as a researcher, including participation in conferences and collaboration with other researchers. I am very grateful for all his help in getting the research internship position at Princeton University and for all advice on my academic career. I thank my co-advisor Prof. Júlia Maria Pavan Soler, who is an example of excellence as advisor, researcher, teacher, and friend. Her passion and dedication for science always inspired me. I also thank Julia’s family for all the funny and inspiring moments.
    [Show full text]
  • A Brief History of Data Visualization
    ABriefHistory II.1 of Data Visualization Michael Friendly 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 16 1.2 Milestones Tour ................................................................................... 17 Pre-17th Century: Early Maps and Diagrams ............................................. 17 1600–1699: Measurement and Theory ..................................................... 19 1700–1799: New Graphic Forms .............................................................. 22 1800–1850: Beginnings of Modern Graphics ............................................ 25 1850–1900: The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics................................... 28 1900–1950: The Modern Dark Ages ......................................................... 37 1950–1975: Rebirth of Data Visualization ................................................. 39 1975–present: High-D, Interactive and Dynamic Data Visualization ........... 40 1.3 Statistical Historiography .................................................................. 42 History as ‘Data’ ...................................................................................... 42 Analysing Milestones Data ...................................................................... 43 What Was He Thinking? – Understanding Through Reproduction.............. 45 1.4 Final Thoughts .................................................................................... 48 16 Michael Friendly It is common to think of statistical graphics and data
    [Show full text]
  • The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics
    Statistical Science 2008, Vol. 23, No. 4, 502–535 DOI: 10.1214/08-STS268 c Institute of Mathematical Statistics, 2008 The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics Michael Friendly Abstract. Statistical graphics and data visualization have long histo- ries, but their modern forms began only in the early 1800s. Between roughly 1850 and 1900 ( 10), an explosive growth occurred in both the general use of graphic± methods and the range of topics to which they were applied. Innovations were prodigious and some of the most exquisite graphics ever produced appeared, resulting in what may be called the “Golden Age of Statistical Graphics.” In this article I trace the origins of this period in terms of the infras- tructure required to produce this explosive growth: recognition of the importance of systematic data collection by the state; the rise of sta- tistical theory and statistical thinking; enabling developments of tech- nology; and inventions of novel methods to portray statistical data. To illustrate, I describe some specific contributions that give rise to the appellation “Golden Age.” Key words and phrases: Data visualization, history of statistics, smooth- ing, thematic cartography, Francis Galton, Charles Joseph Minard, Flo- rence Nightingale, Francis Walker. 1. INTRODUCTION range, size and scope of the data of modern science and statistical analysis. However, this is often done Data and information visualization is concerned without an appreciation or even understanding of with showing quantitative and qualitative informa- their antecedents. As I hope will become apparent tion, so that a viewer can see patterns, trends or here, many of our “modern” methods of statistical anomalies, constancy or variation, in ways that other graphics have their roots in the past and came to forms—text and tables—do not allow.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication
    AHistoryof Data Visualization and Graphic Communication Michael Friendly Howard Wainer harvarduniversitypress Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England 2021 Contents Introduction 1 1 In the Beginning ... 10 2 TheFirstGraphGotItRight 29 3TheBirthofData 44 4 Vital Statistics: William Farr, John Snow, and Cholera 66 5 The Big Bang: William Playfair, the Father of Modern Graphics 95 6 The Origin and Development of the Scatterplot 121 7 The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics 158 8 Escaping Flatland 185 9 Visualizing Time and Space 199 10 Graphs as Poetry 231 Learning More 251 Notes 259 References 277 Acknowledgments 291 Index 293 Color illustrations follow page 230 Introduction The only new thing in the world is the history you don’t know. —harry s. truman,quotedbyDavidMcCulloch We live on islands surrounded by seas of data. Some call it “big data.” In these seas live various species of observable phenomena. Ideas, hypotheses, explanations, and graphics also roam in the seas of data and can clarify the waters or allow unsupported species to die. These creatures thrive on visual explanation and scientific proof. Over time new varieties of graphical species arise, prompted by new problems and inner visions of the fishers in the seas of data. Whether we’re aware of this or not, data are a part of almost every area of our lives. As individuals, fitness trackers and blood sugar meters let us moni- tor our health. Online bank dashboards let us view our spending patterns and track financial goals. As members of society, we read stories of outbreaks of wildfires in California or extreme weather events and wonder if these are mere anomalies or conclusive evidence for climate change.
    [Show full text]