The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition Review

According to Edward Tufte, the purpose of graphics is, "Not the complication of the simple; rather [...] the revelation of the complex." And his THE VISUAL DISPLAY OF QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION, first self-published nearly 30 years ago, is now a bible -- a sort of THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE applied to information graphics.

Tufte reviews how information can be presented (i.e. a minimal amount via a sentence; a moderate amount via a table; a huge amount via a graphic) and then turns his attention to graphics -- from their beginnings in cartography to how to achieve graphic excellence today.

He urges a multi-disciplinary approach, cautioning that, "Allowing artist-illustrators to control the design and content of statistical graphics is almost like allowing typographers to control the content, style, and editing of prose." He touches on psychology and cognition. He rails against using graphic design to deceive, and pulls numerous examples of misrepresentation from prominent media. He devotes a large part of the book to improving the effectiveness of graphs by urging the elimination of "chart junk" (e.g. moiré-effect cross-hatching) and numerous other sources of "non-data ink." In fact, a chapter wherein he strips away seemingly necessary text, frames, hatch marks, etc. (leaving little more than an ether vapor but in the process simplifying and clarifying the meaning) is revelatory.

So many books I've read recently have referenced Tufte, and I'm glad to have finally read him directly. Highly recommended.

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