Few would disagree: Life in the information age can be overwhelming. Through computers, the Internet, the media, and even our daily newspapers, we ...
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reviews
Mar 29, 2011
Griffin
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Like the apology for good manners in a book of etiquette, Tufte describes the goal of visual information as to make verbs visible. Information display should document, compare, show cause and effect, explain, quantify, contain multivariate data, explore and exercise skepticism. Though the design of the book itself has little specialty, the examples and explanatory text are fascinating. Analyses of data from the producers of the shuttle Challenger to investigatory organizations and the documen
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Apr 10, 2009
Bruce
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After I finished the first book in my exploration of Edward Tufte’s ouerve (The Visual Display of Quantitative Information), I wondered what more he could possibly have to say about the grammar of graphic design. And if the mere 138 pages of this his third book (discounting introduction and index) is any indication… not all that much. According to Tufte, “Visual Explanations is about pictures of verbs [his emphasis:], the representation of mechanism and motion, of process and dynamics, of caus
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Dec 13, 2008
Andrea
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The troublesome part of Visual Explanations (and all of Tufte's books really) is that it's so pleasurable you forget that you're supposed to be learning something. As distinct from the other two books in the series, Visual Explanations focuses on the manner in which images can tell a story and thereby render "reading and seeing and thinking identical". The images selected for the book are delightful and engaging - I've never before wanted to hang a data chart on my wall for the sheer
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Aug 04, 2010
Dave
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One of my profs in university had a saying: "No one dies on the internet", but after reading the parts of this book about the Challenger disaster, I'm starting to think our design decisions can have very serious repercussions for people's lives. The scientists who tried to prevent the launch of the Challenger couldn't sell NASA on the problem (o-rings break down at low temps, and it was cold when it launched), and so it launched and blew up. It isn't enough just to present data and hop
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Dec 15, 2008
Dan
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This book was fun to read, but I took a lot less away from it than I did from The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. As usual, there's pages and pages of visuals that he does or doesn't like. But unlike TVDoQI, there's no theoretical framework to go with his opinions. Much of it is Tufte lampooning charts he doesn't like.
I found the chapters on magic and confections completely useless. The two ideas I took from this book:
- You should always ask yourself what poin More...
I found the chapters on magic and confections completely useless. The two ideas I took from this book:
- You should always ask yourself what poin More...
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Dec 07, 2010
DWRL
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The third volume in his series of books on visual representations of information, this beautifully designed book looks closely at charts, diagrams and illustrations that represent changes over time. (The first book, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, covers numerical information, while the second, Envisioning Information, focuses on maps). As Tufte says in the introduction, this text covers “the logic of depicting quantitative evidence” as well as “design strategies…for the arrangem
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Jul 22, 2009
Dewey
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Superb read along with Tufte's others. After reading all three published up to that time, I attended one of Tufte's public seminars which was outstanding. I met Tufte in graduate school about 1970, when I invited him to come over from Princeton to Penn to speak to a graduate students association of which I was president. I was pleasantly suprised at how many faculty members showed up. Tufte's reputation was growing rapidly.
He is undoubtedly the greatest writer ever on how to ana More...
He is undoubtedly the greatest writer ever on how to ana More...
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Sep 04, 2010
Scott
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I found this book more engaging and useful than "Envisioning Information." On par with "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information" but addresses the challenges of communicating multidimensional data on a two-dimensional surface. The chapters describing how chart design contributed to the space shuttle Challenger tragedy and how graphics are used to help explain and teach magic were especially interesting.
Sep 03, 2011
Krystal
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I have crossed paths with Tufte's work for years: I've seen them on friends' bookshelves, flipped through them, had them recommended to me by a senior manager, and even added them to my library hold list, without ever actually reading one for some reason or other. Finally, the stars aligned and I have managed to not only get a hold of this copy but also, amazingly, READ it and I am kicking myself for not making more of an effort in years past. A must read for anyone who has to craft a PowerPoint
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Dec 14, 2010
Jim
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My favorite of Edward Tufte's books. Like the rest, this one is short on footnotes since most of the book is his opinion, but that makes sense given the lack of research on the topic of information displays. This is a great book to get you thinking about how to best display information. The section on the Challenger explosion was quite good.
Jul 16, 2010
Takuro
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This is a useful reading for people who provide decision support, by the means of statistical analysis.
In this book Edward Tufte explains how to:
- Visually display cause-and-effect relationships in a clear, convincing way.
- Create time series that facilitate decision making.
- Effectively illustrate movement, process, and change.
In this book Edward Tufte explains how to:
- Visually display cause-and-effect relationships in a clear, convincing way.
- Create time series that facilitate decision making.
- Effectively illustrate movement, process, and change.
Nov 13, 2011
Leonard
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I am so glad I read this book. Tufte dissects beautiful, fascinating and humorous illustrations in impeccable prose. *Visual Explanations* not only taught me a great deal about visual design, it taught me a great deal about presentation in general. I look forward to implementing these insights.
Nov 17, 2009
Margie
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Not as good as "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information" but worth reading. The section on the decision to launch the space shuttle Challenger is very worthwhile, and can be recommended as a case study for anyone who ever has to either base a decision on data or present data.
Apr 24, 2008
Stan
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2/28/08
Still reading this..
Tuftee is a pretty serious buzz name in the design community and this book gives that buzz some traction. His main premise is that if you think you can lie with statistics, you can tell real whoppers with visuals.
Tuftee is pretty clear about how to make graphic representations accurate. Spatial orientation. Scale. Context. All of these things need to be added to the visual image to "place" it in a meaningful and accurate context More...
Still reading this..
Tuftee is a pretty serious buzz name in the design community and this book gives that buzz some traction. His main premise is that if you think you can lie with statistics, you can tell real whoppers with visuals.
Tuftee is pretty clear about how to make graphic representations accurate. Spatial orientation. Scale. Context. All of these things need to be added to the visual image to "place" it in a meaningful and accurate context More...
Jun 14, 2011
Laurel
rated it:
I read this several months ago at the recommendation of my visual librarian friend. If you like to see things to understand them, you will absolutely love this book. The man is a genius. If only he'd been my stats professor...
Jun 08, 2011
Hao
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Most interesting was his presentation of Challenger slides and John Snowe's epidemiological charts. Less quantitative / statistics than I would have liked - more so of a true graphic design book.
Dec 29, 2008
Sean
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A great treatise about applying validity and scientific principles to visualizations of data.
A lot of very basic information. The most intriguing part was the exploration of confections used through history and how stories were told and supported visually.
A lot of very basic information. The most intriguing part was the exploration of confections used through history and how stories were told and supported visually.
Jan 22, 2011
Kerry
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Exploring how stories are portrayed about the "truths" of reality. A post-modern, intriguing look at the explaining the facts of life.
.....Mid-way through. Update to come
.....Mid-way through. Update to come
Jul 27, 2010
Had to skim the last half because it belonged to my host and I was leaving. Biggest new takeaway was dramatic potential for distortion when aggregation is used.
Aug 24, 2009
Bernie_dunham
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In my work as a Kaizen Leader for the continuous improvement of business processes, the visual display of information in the work place plays a significant role.
Jan 01, 2009
Bill
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This book should be required reading for anyone designing a computer interface. (Although relatively little of the book is specifically focused on computers.)
Aug 05, 2011
Abraham
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The comparative analysis of the challenger disaster and of the 1854 cholera epidemic in London are essential reading for anyone in analytics.
Apr 19, 2011
^
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Deeply and compellingly thought-provoking. Simply wonderful.
My copy is a Third Revision, April 1998, with revisions.
My copy is a Third Revision, April 1998, with revisions.
Dec 01, 2009
Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative by Edward R. Tufte (1997)
May 12, 2010
Murray
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A few more great concepts from Tutfe, but some re-hashing of previous info and in high-and-mighty tone. Examples include ones dealing with statistics, instructions and more.
Nov 22, 2008
Rahmad
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Beautiful book giving valuable guides on how to better display information.
Aug 30, 2010
Brian
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A nice enough read, but I didn't get as much out of it as the previous The Visual Display of Quantitive Information. This book focuses visual evidence most often in the form of time series images or movies to discuss variations over time. There are a number of wonderful illustrations throughout the book, but on the whole the book was just less impactful than I had hoped it would be.
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Dec 25, 2009
Gypsy
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you must read this book to apreciate a most psychadelic and infantile shamanism of artwork in nature.
Sep 22, 2011
Scott
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Wonderfully informative and beautiful book about techniques for visually displaying information in a useful manner.
