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The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition |  | Author: Edward R. Tufte
Publisher: Graphics Press
Category: Book
List Price: $40.00
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Rating:  78 reviews
Sales Rank: 1595
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 2
Pages: 197
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 10.7 x 8.8 x 0.8
ISBN: 0961392142
Dewey Decimal Number: 001.4226
EAN: 9780961392147
ASIN: 0961392142
Publication Date: May 2001
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 78
 Web application developers need this book July 20, 2010
Avid Reader
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you design software that displays data this book will make your software infinitely more usable. I agree with another reviewer that the prose is sometimes tedious to read (the book is from another era), but the illustrations communicate the lessons all by themselves. Less is more when it comes to displaying data on the web. Tables can be hard to read. This book shows how to make information highly readable, without a wasted pixel or a single distraction. It dramatically improved my websites.
Revelatory June 15, 2010
litaddiction (Chicago)
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.
A classic in every way May 7, 2010
Wyze Sky (Orange County, CA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Anyone who deals with organizing and communicating data needs to read and periodically review this classic work.
It will not give you the answer, but will stimulate you to think of different ways to present information with more depth and clarity. The concepts and examples will change your perspective and will absolutely improve the quality of your work. If you get just get a single chart improvement idea from the concepts presented, it is well worth the cost and time. Keep it on a bookshelf close by.
 XKCD May 5, 2010
Andrew Rayburn
Randal Munroe of XKCD mentioned this book in the alt-text to Blogofractal ([...])
"Edward Tufte's 'The Visual Display of Quantitative Information' is a fantastic book, and should be required reading for anyone in either the sciences or graphic design."
I have to agree, as a graphic designer. Plenty of other books can show you how to make information look pretty, but few can show you how to make information readable. Readability first and the pretty will follow.
 A perfect bedside textbook April 23, 2010
Frederick C. Charles (Empire State)
Enjoying Tufte's subjective evaluation of charts & graphs. Never thought there was even a history. I'll never take them for granted again -- I promise. FCharles
Showing reviews 1-5 of 78
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