The History of Schematics in Data it wanders freely over the optical surface of the Visualization image. And even in cases where the eye is not free, such as a set of graphic instructions, it Sheila Pontis thinks it is and wanders as it will; it is not [email protected] disciplined by a mechanism of cultural October 2007 obligation (learning to read) which forces the eye to move along a line3. Abstract: Written messages require linear thought , This article explores the topic of schematics as while visual messages lead to surface an essential tool in data visualization. To thought 4. Yves Deforge presented this concept understand the complex world of data in his book, Imagen Didáctica stating that the visualization, the first step must be to learn two forms of thought have competed- and about the history and evolution of graphics, complemented each other- throughout history. always closely linked to breakthroughs in Beyond the written word, sets of techniques theoretical knowledge and technological have evolved to transmit data, knowledge and developments. Socio-cultural influences on its information in such a way that the relationship development will also be examined. among the parts of the whole is understood. This set of techniques, a part of visual language, Key words: comprises functional images, including diagrams and maps. Schematics, history, visualization, data, design, Schematic language is the name of the visual technology. language of surfaces that has evolved in tandem to written linear language and aims primarily to make information visible. This study will explore the beginnings and evolution of data visualization, closely linked to breakthroughs in theoretical knowledge and technological 1. Introduction developments. Socio-cultural influences over the course of its development will also be The role of images in the transmission of highlighted. knowledge has gained prominence over the last forty years. This is due to illustrators' capacity to express themselves graphically, developments in 2. A history of schematic graphics to the printing, and users ability to understand graphic present day information1 and relate images to reality. Visual language2, irrespective of its characteristics, transmits a two-dimensional This historical overview will begin with a quote message. When the eye contemplates an image, from Professor Justo Villafañe of the Universidad Computense de Madrid. He 1 Abraham Moles defines graphics as the result of the combination of considers that, since its origins, schematic iconic, sign, linguistic and chromatic elements applied for diverse purposes in the varied field of design. Moles, Abraham. Imagen Didáctica, Editorial 3 CEAC. Barcelona, 1991. p. 42. Op. cit. 1. p.10. 2 In this investigation, visual language is defined as one using images and 4 graphic elements to communicate concepts. Op. cit. 1. p.207 language has evolved through a constant process discovered a map in Ankara, Turkey, from 6200 of trial and error5, which he explains as the years BCE (Before the Common Era). The first need to create a new way of representing reality map of the world was also created in Turkey, as that corrects some key factor in the previous far as we know, about 550 BCE, by model. The constant need to change graphic Anaximander (610 BCE 546 BCE). This map is representation arises as images are used for new a simple illustration where the world is purposes. The trial and error" process, like a synthesized in a circle, containing three cyclical path, runs throughout the history -and continents: Asia, Europe and Africa8. future- of visual representation. Historical Dating from about 366 BCE is the first route periods have each had their own needs, for map9 ( carte routière ), representing the road which they have generated their own graphic system of the Roman Empire. It was discovered representation methods to reproduce reality. in 1494 by the German Konrad Peutinger (1465-1547). Like Philip Meggs, Villafañe begins his analysis Geographer Claudius Ptolemy (90 CE-160 CE) with the Egyptian culture6, which is also made a map in the year 150 CE (Common characterized by imposing a frontal view of life Era), which was one of the first to use the and can be considered the first manifestation of coordinate principle for map-making. an attempt at representing reality. In ancient times, the Egyptians developed Classical Greek culture, the protagonist of the papyrus for writing their manuscripts, a major second great era, offered a new way of breakthrough in visual communication. In 170 "equalizing" and correcting the previous system7. CE, parchment was invented, a material that Chronologically, the next important correction enhanced the creation of visual images because that Villafañe describes took place in the 15th it made it possible to create images on both sides and 16th centuries during the artistic movement (front and back), the main characteristic that of the Renaissance. This movement produced a distinguishes it from papyrus. change in the way the world and human beings In 105 CE, in China, Ts ai Lun (50 CE 121 CE) were understood, replacing the Theo-centrism created paper, replacing inscriptions on wood, that had characterized the Medieval Period with cloth or stone. The process for making paper the anthropocentric view of the Renaissance. remained unchanged until its production was The artistic style of Naturalism that developed mechanized in 19th century England. mid-19th century is also seen by Villafañe as an accumulation of corrections arising from the The first known examples of data visualization observation of surrounding reality. are geometric diagrams, charting the positions of the stars and other heavenly bodies, and maps to Babylonian maps on clay tablets, created aid navigation and exploration. approximately 4500 years ago, were considered In his book Historical Development of the the oldest maps in existence until 1963, when Graphical Representation of Statistical Data, archaeologist James Mellaart (1925- ) Funkhouser identifies what he considers the first 5 graphic construction, circa 950 CE. This image, . Villafañe Gallego, Justo. Fundamentos metodológicos de la teoría de la discovered in 1877 by the German Sigmund imagen (referidos a la imagen fija). Doctoral thesis. Editorial de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1981. Madrid. p.282 8 6 . Buisseret, David. La revolución cartográfica en Europa, 1400-1800. The first Egyptian manifestations date approximately from the year 5300 BCE. Ediciones Paidós Ibérica, S.A. Barcelona, 2003. p.20 7 9 . Op. cit. 5. p.289 . Op. cit. 8. p.34 Günther, was part of a manuscript kept at the considers that this invention may date from the Bayerische Staats-Bibliothek in Munich. It was year 165 CE. A further development in relief structured in squares and accompanied a printing was that of movable type, about the description of planetary movements through the year 1045, thanks to the Chinese alchemist Pi zodiac over time. Sheng (1022-1063), who made the type out of a However, other authors, such as Paul mixture of clay and glue. In 1453, it became Mijksenaar (1944- ), consider the work of possible to make prints through the use of Nicole Oresme (1323-1382) to be the first independent, movable and reusable pieces of graphic representation of data. metal, each of which had the shape of a letter on In 1375 a world atlas was made known as the the top 11. This technique (typographical Most complete atlas of visual geographical printing), created by German Johann Gutenberg knowledge of the late Middle Ages . This book (1398-1468), made it possible for knowledge to was a complete visual work of cosmography, spread quickly through the massive production along with a perpetual calendar and a thematic of copies, which in turn led to increased levels representation of the known world. The Atlas of literacy and allowed text and image to merge was commissioned by Charles the Fifth of on the same page. France (1338-1380) and made by Catalonian Abraham Cresques (?-1387)10. In the 16th century, techniques and instruments The graphic representations up to the mid-14th were created for more accurate observation and century mentioned in this historical overview measurement of physical quantities. These steps reflect humans knowledge of the world at that comprise the beginnings of the discipline of time, which was not based on scientific or visual representation. theoretical explanations. This information can be summarized in the concept of mimesis, which consists of the expression of our "knowledge" of 2.1 17th Century: Measurement and theory nature and the world we live in. This type of graphic representation did not yet reflect any The principle concerns of the 17th century were pre-established codes, given that a code is a set the physical measurement of time, distance and of systematic norms regulating a given subject space, in making maps for navigation and as a whole. The concept of mimesis is close to territorial expansion purposes. Objects were aesthetic reproduction; in contrast, the concept created that enabled greater accuracy in of codes is related to pre-established rules and technical illustrations and enhanced the parameters. reproduction of figures on different scales. In 1626, Christopher Scheiner (1575-1650) A major advance in the history of visual produced a visual sequence that represented language was the possibility of reproducing changes in sun spots over time, developing one visual representations in a way that was not of the principal contemporary tools for manual. The first great invention in reproduction information visualization: Small Multiple. techniques came from China, with the creation Analytical geometry, begun by Descartes of relief prints (wood-engraving). Meggs (1596-1650) in 1637, helped to determine how to represent the curve of an equation 10 . Friendly, Michael. Denis, Daniel J. Milestones in the History of Thematic 11 Cartography, Statistical Graphics, and Data Visualization. York University, . Meggs, Philip B. Historia del diseño gráfico. McGraw-Hill/Interamericana Canada.