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"This is an excellent reference for those wishing to describe data using graphs (of any nature)...I can imagine many applied statisticians, engineers, people from economy and/or newspapers, etc., for whom this reference could be an important addition to the library."-- Math
"An encyclopedia of graphical techniques, including the many tools arising from modern data analysis. A great resource." --Chance, a publication of the American Statistical Association
"The breadth and depth of entries, examples, and cross references are almost overwhelming. Readers can explore subjects to the depth necessary--it's all there ... The writing is straightforward and precise without being overly technical and presupposes no special knowledge of graphics or mathematics." --Journal of the Society for Technical Communication
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The distance a data point is located from zero along the horizontal axis of a graph. Read the first page
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Be clear, however - this is a book that almost exclusively focuses on visualising quantitative information - there's no 'signage' type concepts here, and there isn't even any colour, which is actually a bonus as colour would only introduce even more distraction. You will never have believed how many different ways you can chart a string of data points until you leaf through this tome.
The book, in attempting to catalogue charting from so many different dimensions, ends up repeating itself a lot - it could have been a third of its size and still conveyed the same volume of information.
It's a book that's great to flick through when you're looking for inspiration to show that piece of boring statistics in a more engaging form.
The book has the structure of an dictionary. It has entries for all kind of terms involved in making and describing graphs, etc. So it has for example a (long) entry on "Pie Chart", but also a separate entry on "Segment". It has lots of excellent illustrations, but even better is the text of the entries, explaining what the graph (map, table, etc.) is meant to show, discussing its parts, mentioning variations or alternatives, and indicating relations with other graphs (maps, tables, etc.). As such the book can also be used as a textbook to learn how to present data.
As the book was first published in 1996, one might think that it has become outdated with the increase of computer visualization tools. This is not the case. The quality of the illustrations in the book is much higher than what is produced by most of the software that is used nowadays.
Information Graphics: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference changed that. With this handy reference, which is never far from my keyboard, I have a 450-page catalog of ideas and guidance. What is remarkable is that in the 450 pages are 4,000 illustrations (nearly 10 per page). This book has allowed me to measurably improve the quality of my proposals and deliverables by picking the best possible way to convey information.
Don't let the fact that I am in the computer consulting industry deter you from buying this book - if you are in business, graphic arts, advertising and marketing or just about any other profession that uses data this book will be worth its weight in gold.
and on the first page the entries start rolling: "Abscissa", "Abscissa axis", "Abstract graph", etc. Most readers will be
exhausted before reaching the letters D or E...
Having compiled this exhaustive list of information graphics, one would expect the author to provide some kind of an
overview, guidelines, or some useful grouping of the different types of graphics. The closest thing to such insights is
found in the brief preface (pp. 4-5) and the "Graph" entry (pp. 164-177).
I have to disagree with the reviewers describing this book as helpful "to select the best graphic or chart to convey
information in the most efficient way". When you "turn to this book and and pick the most appropriate graphic type", which
alphabetical entries are you going to look up? And which entries are you going to miss?
This book does serve a purpose as a catalogue and a 4 page bibliography, but the best books for learning how to create
informative and efficient graphics are those written by Edward Tufte and William Cleveland.
This book is a catalog of ideas and a guide for selecting the best possible way to display information in graphical format. Now, instead of floundering around playing with two or three ways to graphically depict information I turn to this book and pick the most appropriate graphic type. My ability to communicate has dramatically improved because now that I have confidence that I am using the optimal method to display information I find myself using graphics not only more effectively, but more wisely.
Prior to this book my graphics tools were implements that more often than not produced inappropriate charts, giving credence to the adage that "A fool with a tool is still a fool". Since this book I now use my software tools like a skilled craftsman who has the perfect blueprint. With 450 pages of illustrations that show how to depict information visually in the best possible way this book is my perfect blueprint.
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