Visual Revelations Graphical Tales of Fate and Deception from Napoleon Bonaparte to Ross Perot

This extraordinary book provides a journey through the jungle of good and bad graphical devices used to illustrate and obfuscate data. The diversity of examples is tremendous: ranging from Napoleon's retreat from Moscow to the O-rings on the space shuttle and from mortalities in hospitals to the schedules of buses. The author's aim is to illustrate how effectively a well-chosen graphic can reveal in an instant the essential truth behind some data whilst a poorly designed representation can conceal an awful truth. As well as providing numerous examples of both, the author includes plenty of helpful ideas to make us all better producers and consumers of graphics.

Section I Graphical Failures.- 1 How to Display Data Badly.- 2 Graphical Mysteries.- Section II Graphical Triumphs.- 3 Graphical Answers to Scientific Questions.- 4 Three Graphic Memorials.- 5 A Nobel Graph.- 6 Todai Moto Kurashi.- 7 Picturing an L.A. Bus Schedule.- Section III Graphical Forms.- 8 Humble Pie.- 9 Double Y-Axis Graphs.- 10 Tabular Presentation.- 11 A Rose by Another Name.- 12 Trilinear Plots.- 13 Implicit Graphs.- Section IV Using Graphical Methods.- 14 Measuring Graphicacy.- 15 Graphs in the Presidential Campaign: Why Weren’t They Used More Broadly?.- 16 Visual Aids When Comparing an Apple to the Stars.- Section V Improving Graphical Presentations.- 17 Integrating Figures and Text.- 18 Elegance, Grace, Impact, and Graphical Displays.- 19 Sense-Lining.- 20 Making Readable Overhead Displays.- Finally.- Notes.- References.- Credits.