✏️Walter E Weld - Collected Quotes

"'A chart is a graphic presentation of numerical data'. In other words, a chart is a picture of a set of figures, but a picture the making and understanding of which calls for neither artistic nor mathematical skill. The only requirements arc ordinary common sense and the ability to draw a straight line with the aid of a ruler." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"A time series is a record of the magnitude of a variable (a quantity that may increase or decrease) as observed at regular intervals of time." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"According to the standard definition, a chart is a graphic presentation, or picture, of numerical data, and since numerical data invariably record magnitudes, that is, the measurements of various things, it follows that a graphic chart, in its simplest form, is a picture of the size of something as expressed in the standard unit of measurement." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"Besides being easier to construct than a bar chart, the line chart possesses other advantages. It is easier to read, for while the bars stand out more prominently than the line, they tend to become confusing if numerous, and especially so when they record alternate increase and decrease. It is easier for the eye to follow a line across the face of the chart than to jump from bar top to bar top, and the slope of the line connecting two points is a great aid in detecting minor changes. The line is also more suggestive of movement than arc bars, and movement is the very essence of a time series. Again, a line chart permits showing two or more related variables on the same chart, or the same variable over two or more corresponding periods." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"Business executives, to be efficient, must constantly plan ahead, but there are pitfalls in attempting to estimate the future growth of a business from a chart of its past history. In the first place, there are too many uncontrollable factors entering into the situation to make the most careful estimate of future growth anything more than a shrewd guess, dependent upon all internal and external conditions remaining the same. To project the growth curve of a business into the future provides a good mark to shoot at, but a bank loan is seldom obtainable on the strength of such a projection."  (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"But while charts are always useful and often necessary, they can never be anything more than a means to an end. Let no executive assume that charts, however numerous or complete, can ever serve as an effective substitute for managerial ability or personal effort. No manner or number of charts will enable an incompetent person to run a business successfully, nor insure the efficiency of remote control by even the most competent management. Charts are a help to, not a substitute for executive ability." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"In form, the ratio chart differs from the arithmetic chart in that the vertical scale is not divided into equal spaces to represent equal amounts, but is divided logarithmically to represent percentages of gain or loss. On the arithmetic chart equal vertical distances represent equal amounts of change; on the ratio chart equal vertical distances represent equal percentages of change." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"The great trouble with all business data upon which the statisticians and economists base their forecasts is that they are ancient history before they ever become available. They pertain to conditions which existed some weeks or months previous. The figures for what is going on at the moment in all lines of business are never available. A business index, while of great interest and value, is always historical and never predictive." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

"The probability chart, as its name indicates, not only presents a record of what has occurred in the past, but furnishes a sound and scientific basis for estimating what is likely to hap- pen in the future, providing things take their normal course. This is far better than any mere guess or rough estimate, especially in all unprecedented cases." (Walter E Weld, "How to Chart; Facts from Figures with Graphs", 1959)

✏️Michael Friendly - Collected Quotes

"Like good writing, producing an effective graphical display requires an understanding of purpose - what is to be communicated, and to whom." (Michael Friendly, "Gallery of Data Visualization", 1991)

"It is common to think of statistical graphics and data visualization as relatively modern developments in statistics. In fact, the graphic representation of quantitative information has deep roots. These roots reach into the histories of the earliest map-making and visual depiction, and later into thematic cartography, statistics and statistical graphics, medicine, and other fields. Along the way, developments in technologies (printing, reproduction) mathematical theory and practice, and empirical observation and recording, enabled the wider use of graphics and new advances in form and content." (Michael Friendly. "A brief history of data visualization", 2006)

"The graphic portrayal of quantitative information has deep roots. These roots reach into histories of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization, which are intertwined with each other." (Michael Friendly. "Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization", 2008) 

"Algorithmic calculation can give only pseudo-random numbers, but some methods come closer than others in behaving like quantities that are truly random, such as numbers obtained from tossing a very large number of dice." (Michael Friendly. "Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization", 2008) 

"But to a ballet dancer, the art is in getting all the body parts to do those things in sync with a musical score to tell a wordless story of emotion entirely through change in position over time. In data visualization, as in physics and ballet, motion is a manifestation of the relation between time and space, and so the recording and display of motion added time as a fourth dimension to the abstract world of data." (Michael Friendly. "Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization", 2008) 

"Correlation does not imply causation: often some other missing third variable is influencing both of the variables you are correlating. […] The need for a scatterplot arose when scientists had to examine bivariate relations between distinct variables directly. As opposed to other graphic forms - pie charts, line graphs, and bar charts - the scatterplot offered a unique advantage: the possibility to discover regularity in empirical data (shown as points) by adding smoothed lines or curves designed to pass 'not through, but among them', so as to pass from raw data to a theory-based description, analysis, and understanding." (Michael Friendly & Howard Wainer, "A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication", 2021)

"However, just as in cooking, the details matter: the wrong spice can ruin the stew. In graphing data, different methods or graphical features can make it easier or harder to perceive and understand relationships or comparisons from the same data." (Michael Friendly & Howard Wainer, "A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication", 2021)

"Indeed, among all forms of statistical graphics, the scatterplot may be considered the most versatile and generally useful invention in the entire history of statistical graphics. Essential characteristics of a scatterplot are that two quantitative variables are measured on the same observational units (workers); the values are plotted as points referred to perpendicular axes; and the goal is to show something about the relation between these variables, typically how the ordinate variable, y, varies with the abscissa variable, x." (Michael Friendly & Howard Wainer, "A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication", 2021)

"Its primary function was to make previously invisible phenomena subject to direct inspection in a graphic display […] The graphic method had another function, that of communication to the scientific community and educated readers. These displays made complex phenomena palpable and concrete." (Michael Friendly & Howard Wainer, "A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication", 2021)

"Our central questions in this book are 'How did the graphic depiction of numbers arise?' and more importantly, 'Why?' What led to the key innovations in graphs and diagrams that are commonplace today? What were the circumstances or scientific problems that made visual depiction more useful than mere words and numbers? Finally, how did these graphic inventions make a difference in comprehending natural and social phenomena and communicating that understanding?" (Michael Friendly & Howard Wainer, "A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication", 2021)

"[...] scatterplots had advantages over earlier graphic forms: the ability to see clusters, patterns, trends, and relations in a cloud of points. Perhaps most importantly, it allowed the addition of visual annotations (point symbols, lines, curves, enclosing contours, etc.) to make those relationships more coherent and tell more nuanced stories." (Michael Friendly & Howard Wainer, "A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication", 2021)

"The general principles of starting with a well-defined question, engaging in careful observation, and then formulating hypotheses and assessing the strength of evidence for and against them became known as the scientific method." (Michael Friendly & Howard Wainer, "A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication", 2021)

"The plotting of real data had a remarkable, and largely unanticipated, benefit. It often forced viewers to see what they hadn’t expected. The frequency with which this happened gave birth to the empirical modern approach to science which welcomes the plotting of observed data values with the goal of investigating suggestive patterns." (Michael Friendly & Howard Wainer, "A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication", 2021)

"Visual displays of empirical information are too often thought to be just compact summaries that, at their best, can clarify a muddled situation. This is partially true, as far as it goes, but it omits the magic. […] sometimes, albeit too rarely, the combination of critical questions addressed by important data and illuminated by evocative displays can achieve a transcendent, and often wholly unexpected, result. At their best, visualizations can communicate emotions and feelings in addition to cold, hard facts."  (Michael Friendly. "Milestones in the history of thematic cartography, statistical graphics, and data visualization", 2008) 

"We are accustomed to intellectual diffusion taking place from the natural and physical sciences into the social sciences; certainly that is the direction taken for both calculus and the scientific method. But statistical graphics in particular, and statistics in general, took the reverse route." (Michael Friendly & Howard Wainer, "A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication", 2021)

"We live on islands surrounded by seas of data. Some call it 'big data'. In these seas live various species of observable phenomena. Ideas, hypotheses, explanations, and graphics also roam in the seas of data and can clarify the waters or allow unsupported species to die. These creatures thrive on visual explanation and scientific proof. Over time new varieties of graphical species arise, prompted by new problems and inner visions of the fishers in the seas of data." (Michael Friendly & Howard Wainer, "A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication", 2021)

✏️William Playfair - Collected Quotes

"As knowledge increases amongst mankind and transactions multiply, it becomes more and more desirable to abbreviate and facilitate the modes of conveying information from one person to another, and from one individual to the many." (William Playfair, "The Commercial and Political Atlas", 1786)

"As to the propriety and justness of representing sums of money, and time, by parts of space, tho’ very readily agreed to by most men, yet a few seem to apprehend there may possibly be some deception in it, of which they are not aware […]" (William Playfair, "The Commercial and Political Atlas", 1786)

"Figures and letters may express with accuracy, but they can never represent either number or space. A map of the river Thames, or of a large town, expressed in figures, would give but a very imperfect notion of either, though they might be perfectly exact in every dimension." (William Playfair, "The Commercial and Political Atlas", 1786)

"Geography is only a branch of statistics, a knowledge of which is necessary to the well-understanding of the history of nations, as well as their situations relative to each other." (William Playfair, "The Commercial and Political Atlas", 1786)

"Information that is imperfectly acquired, is generally as imperfectly retained; and a man who has carefully investigated a printed table, finds, when done, that he has only a very faint and partial idea of what he has read; and that like a figure imprinted on sand, is soon totally erased and defaced." (William Playfair, "The Commercial and Political Atlas", 1786)

"It remains only for me to request that those who do not, at the first sight, understand the manner of inspecting the Charts, will read with attention the few lines of directions facing the first Chart, after which they will find all the difficulty entirely vanish, and as much information may be obtained in five minutes as would require whole days to imprint on the memory, in a lasting manner, by a table of figures." (William Playfair, "The Commercial and Political Atlas", 1786)

"Men in general are very slow to enter into what is reckoned a new thing; and there seems to be a very universal as well as great reluctance to undergo the drudgery of acquiring information that seems not to be absolutely necessary." (William Playfair, "The Commercial and Political Atlas", 1786) 

"[...] the eye is the best judge of proportion, being able to estimate it with more quickness and accuracy than any other of our organs [...] this mode of representation gives a simple, accurate, and permanent idea, by giving form and shape to a number of separate ideas, which are otherwise abstract and unconnected." (William Playfair, "The Commercial and Political Atlas", 1786)

"This Chart is different from the others in principle, as it does not comprehend any portion of time, and it is much inferior in utility to those that do; for though it gives the extent of the different branches of trade, it does not compare the same branch of commerce with itself at different periods; nor does it imprint upon the mind that distinct idea, in doing which, the chief advantage of Charts consists: for as it wants the dimension that is formed by duration, there is no shape given to the quantities." (William Playfair, "The Commercial and Political Atlas", 1786)

"To give insight to statistical information it occurred to me, that making an appeal to the eye when proportion and magnitude are concerned, is the best and readiest method of conveying a distinct idea." (William Playfair, "The Commercial and Political Atlas", 1786)

"In the course of executing that design, it occurred to me that tables are by no means a good form for conveying such information. [...] Making an appeal to the eye when proportion and magnitude are concerned is the best and readiest method of conveying a distinct idea." (William Playfair, "The Statistical Brewery", 1801)

"No study is less alluring or more dry and tedious than statistics, unless the mind and imagination are set to work, or that the person studying is particularly interested in the subject; which last can seldom be the case with young men in any rank of life." (William Playfair, "The Statistical Brewery", 1801)

"Statistical accounts are to be referred to as a dictionary by men of riper years, and by young men as a grammar, to teach them the relations and proportions of different statistical subjects, and to imprint them on the mind at a time when the memory is capable of being impressed in a lasting and durable manner, thereby laying the foundation for accurate and valuable knowledge." " (William Playfair, "The Statistical Brewery", 1801)

"Statistical knowledge, though in some degree searched after in the most early ages of the world, has not till within these last 50 years become a regular object of study." (William Playfair, "The Statistical Brewery", 1801)

"The advantages proposed by [the graphical] mode of representation, are to facilitate the attainment of information, and aid the memory in retaining it: which two points form the principal business in what we call learning. Of all the senses, the eye gives the liveliest and most accurate idea of whatever is susceptible of being represented to it; and when proportion between different quantities is the object, then the eye has an incalculable superiority. (William Playfair, "The Statistical Breviary", 1801)

"No study is less alluring or more dry and tedious than statistics, unless the mind and imagination are set to work, or that the person studying is particularly interested in the subject; which last can seldom be the case with young men in any rank of life." (William Playfair, "The Statistical Brewery", 1801)

"Regarding numbers and proportions, the best way to catch the imagination is to speak to the eyes." (William Playfair, "Elemens de statistique", 1802)

✏️Robert Grant - Collected Quotes

"A map by itself requires little explanation, but once data are superimposed, readers will probably need labels on the maps, and legends explaining encodings like the color of markers." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"A recurring theme in machine learning is combining predictions across multiple models. There are techniques called bagging and boosting which seek to tweak the data and fit many estimates to it. Averaging across these can give a better prediction than any one model on its own. But here a serious problem arises: it is then very hard to explain what the model is (often referred to as a 'black box'). It is now a mixture of many, perhaps a thousand or more, models." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"Any fool can fit a statistical model, given the data and some software. The real challenge is to decide whether it actually fits the data adequately. It might be the best that can be obtained, but still not good enough to use." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"Apart from the technical challenge of working with the data itself, visualization in big data is different because showing the individual observations is just not an option. But visualization is essential here: for analysis to work well, we have to be assured that patterns and errors in the data have been spotted and understood. That is only possible by visualization with big data, because nobody can look over the data in a table or spreadsheet." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"As a first principle, any visualization should convey its information quickly and easily, and with minimal scope for misunderstanding. Unnecessary visual clutter makes more work for the reader’s brain to do, slows down the understanding (at which point they may give up) and may even allow some incorrect interpretations to creep in." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"Cross-validation is a useful tool for finding optimal predictive models, and it also works well in visualization. The concept is simple: split the data at random into a 'training' and a 'test' set, fit the model to the training data, then see how well it predicts the test data. As the model gets more complex, it will always fit the training data better and better. It will also start off getting better results on the test data, but there comes a point where the test data predictions start going wrong." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"Dashboards are collections of several linked visualizations all in one place. The idea is very popular as part of business intelligence: having current data on activity summarized and presented all inone place. One danger of cramming a lot of disparate information into one place is that you will quickly hit information overload. Interactivity and small multiples are definitely worth considering as ways of simplifying the information a reader has to digest in a dashboard. As with so many other visualizations, layering the detail for different readers is valuable." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"Decision trees show the breakdown of the data by one variable then another in a very intuitive way, though they are generally just diagrams that don’t actually encode data visually." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"Estimates based on data are often uncertain. If the data were intended to tell us something about a wider population (like a poll of voting intentions before an election), or about the future, then we need to acknowledge that uncertainty. This is a double challenge for data visualization: it has to be calculated in some meaningful way and then shown on top of the data or statistics without making it all too cluttered." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"One very common problem in data visualization is that encoding numerical variables to area is incredibly popular, but readers can’t translate it back very well." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"The relevance to data visualization is that we are always conveying a message to some extent, and in the case of associations between variables, that message is sometimes a step removed from the data itself. If you are making visualizations, be careful not to impose your own interpretation too much when showing associations. If you are reading them, don’t assume that the message accompanying the data is as sound and scientifically based as the data themselves." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"The term 'infographics' is used for eye-catching diagrams which get a simple message across. They are very popular in advertising and can convey an impression of scientific, reliable information, but they are not the same thing as data visualization. An infographic will typically only convey a few numbers, and not use visual presentations to allow the reader to make comparisons of their own." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"There is often no one 'best' visualization, because it depends on context, what your audience already knows, how numerate or scientifically trained they are, what formats and conventions are regarded as standard in the particular field you’re working in, the medium you can use, and so on. It’s also partly scientific and partly artistic, so you get to express your own design style in it, which is what makes it so fascinating." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"With skewed data, quantiles will reflect the skew, while adding standard deviations assumes symmetry in the distribution and can be misleading." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

"Random forests are essentially an ensemble of trees. They use many short trees, fitted to multiple samples of the data, and the predictions are averaged for each observation. This helps to get around a problem that trees, and many other machine learning techniques, are not guaranteed to find optimal models, in the way that linear regression is. They do a very challenging job of fitting non-linear predictions over many variables, even sometimes when there are more variables than there are observations. To do that, they have to employ 'greedy algorithms', which find a reasonably good model but not necessarily the very best model possible." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)

✏️Nathan Yau - Collected Quotes

"A common mistake is that all visualization must be simple, but this skips a step. You should actually design graphics that lend clarity, and that clarity can make a chart 'simple' to read. However, sometimes a dataset is complex, so the visualization must be complex. The visualization might still work if it provides useful insights that you wouldn’t get from a spreadsheet. […] Sometimes a table is better. Sometimes it’s better to show numbers instead of abstract them with shapes. Sometimes you have a lot of data, and it makes more sense to visualize a simple aggregate than it does to show every data point." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"After you visualize your data, there are certain things to look for […]: increasing, decreasing, outliers, or some mix, and of course, be sure you’re not mixing up noise for patterns. Also note how much of a change there is and how prominent the patterns are. How does the difference compare to the randomness in the data? Observations can stand out because of human or mechanical error, because of the uncertainty of estimated values, or because there was a person or thing that stood out from the rest. You should know which it is." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Area can also make data seem more tangible or relatable, because physical objects take up space. A circle or a square uses more space than a dot on a screen or paper. There’s less abstraction between visual cue and real world." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Context (information that lends to better understanding the who, what, when, where, and why of your data) can make the data clearer for readers and point them in the right direction. At the least, it can remind you what a graph is about when you come back to it a few months later. […] Context helps readers relate to and understand the data in a visualization better. It provides a sense of scale and strengthens the connection between abstract geometry and colors to the real world." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Data is an abstraction of real life, and real life can be complicated, but if you gather enough context, you can at least put forth a solid effort to make sense of it." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Data is more than numbers, and to visualize it, you must know what it represents. Data represents real life. It’s a snapshot of the world in the same way that a photograph captures a small moment in time. […] The connection between data and what it represents is key to visualization that means something. It is key to thoughtful data analysis. It is key to a deeper understanding of your data. Computers do a bulk of the work to turn numbers into shapes and colors, but you must make the connection between data and real life, so that you or the people you make graphics for extract something of value." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Early exploration of a dataset can be overwhelming, because you don’t know where to start. Ask questions about the data and let your curiosities guide you. […] Make multiple charts, compare all your variables, and see if there are interesting bits that are worth a closer look. Look at your data as a whole and then zoom in on categories and individual data points. […] Subcategories, the categories within categories (within categories), are often more revealing than the main categories. As you drill down, there can be higher variability and more interesting things to see." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Good visualization is a winding process that requires statistics and design knowledge. Without the former, the visualization becomes an exercise only in illustration and aesthetics, and without the latter, one of only analyses. On their own, these are fine skills, but they make for incomplete data graphics. Having skills in both provides you with the luxury - which is growing into a necessity - to jump back and forth between data exploration and storytelling." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"It’s tempting to look at data as absolute truth, because we associate numbers with fact, but more often than not, data is an educated guess. Your goal is to use data that doesn’t have large levels of uncertainty attached." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Most data is linked to time in some way in that it might be a time series, or it’s a snapshot from a specific period. In both cases, you have to know when the data was collected. An estimate made decades ago does not equate to one in the present. This seems obvious, but it’s a common mistake to take old data and pass it off as new because it’s what’s available. Things change, people change, and places change, and so naturally, data changes." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Most important, the range of data literacy and familiarity with your data’s context is much wider when you design graphics for a general audience." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Numbers seem concrete and absolute, but estimates carry uncertainty with them. Data is an abstraction of what it represents, and the level of exactness varies." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"People often skip methodology because it tends to be complex and for a technical audience, but it’s worth getting to know the gist of how the data of interest was collected."  (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Put everything together - from understanding data, to exploration, clarity, and adapting to an audience - and you get a general process for how to make data graphics."  (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Readability in visualization helps people interpret data and make conclusions about what the data has to say. Embed charts in reports or surround them with text, and you can explain results in detail. However, take a visualization out of a report or disconnect it from text that provides context (as is common when people share graphics online), and the data might lose its meaning; or worse, others might misinterpret what you tried to show." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"The best way to learn where people are is to show your work to those who don’t know your data. You get an immediate sense of understanding just from first impressions." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"The connection between data and what it represents is key to visualization that means something. It is key to thoughtful data analysis. It is key to a deeper understanding of your data. Computers do a bulk of the work to turn numbers into shapes and colors, but you must make the connection between data and real life, so that you or the people you make graphics for extract something of value." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"The data is a simplification - an abstraction - of the real world. So when you visualize data, you visualize an abstraction of the world, or at least some tiny facet of it. Visualization is an abstraction of data, so in the end, you end up with an abstraction of an abstraction, which creates an interesting challenge. […] Just like what it represents, data can be complex with variability and uncertainty, but consider it all in the right context, and it starts to make sense." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Visualization can be appreciated purely from an aesthetic point of view, but it’s most interesting when it’s about data that’s worth looking at. That’s why you start with data, explore it, and then show results rather than start with a visual and try to squeeze a dataset into it. It’s like trying to use a hammer to bang in a bunch of screws. […] Aesthetics isn’t just a shiny veneer that you slap on at the last minute. It represents the thought you put into a visualization, which is tightly coupled with clarity and affects interpretation." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Visualization is a medium: a way to explore, present, and express meaning in data. […] Visualization is often framed as a medium for storytelling. The numbers are the source material, and the graphs are how you describe the source. When referring to stories or data narrative, I don’t mean novels (but great if that’s what you’re after). Rather, I mean statistical stories […]" (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Visualization is often thought of as an exercise in graphic design or a brute-force computer science problem, but the best work is always rooted in data. To visualize data, you must understand what it is, what it represents in the real world, and in what context you should interpret it in." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Visualization is what happens when you make the jump from raw data to bar graphs, line charts, and dot plots. […] In its most basic form, visualization is simply mapping data to geometry and color. It works because your brain is wired to find patterns, and you can switch back and forth between the visual and the numbers it represents. This is the important bit. You must make sure that the essence of the data isn’t lost in that back and forth between visual and the value it represents because if you can’t map back to the data, the visualization is just a bunch of shapes." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"What is good visualization? It is a representation of data that helps you see what you otherwise would have been blind to if you looked only at the naked source. It enables you to see trends, patterns, and outliers that tell you about yourself and what surrounds you. The best visualization evokes that moment of bliss when seeing something for the first time, knowing that what you see has been right in front of you, just slightly hidden. Sometimes it is a simple bar graph, and other times the visualization is complex because the data requires it." (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"Without context, data is useless, and any visualization you create with it will also be useless. Using data without knowing anything about it, other than the values themselves, is like hearing an abridged quote secondhand and then citing it as a main discussion point in an essay. It might be okay, but you risk finding out later that the speaker meant the opposite of what you thought."  (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"You have to know the who, what, when, where, why, and how - the metadata, or the data about the data - before you can know what the numbers are actually about. […] Learn all you can about your data before anything else, and your analysis and visualization will be better for it. You can then pass what you know on to readers."  (Nathan Yau, "Data Points: Visualization That Means Something", 2013)

"We often think of visualization as a design and programming task, but the process starts further back with the data. You have to understand the data - its trends and patterns, along with its flaws and imperfections - and the rest follows." (Nathan Yau)

✏️Cecil H Meyers - Collected Quotes

"Charts and graphs are a method of organizing information for a unique purpose. The purpose may be to inform, to persuade, to obtain a clear understanding of certain facts, or to focus information and attention on a particular problem. The information contained in charts and graphs must, obviously, be relevant to the purpose. For decision-making purposes, information must be focused clearly on the issue or issues requiring attention. The need is not simply for 'information', but for structured information, clearly presented and narrowed to fit a distinctive decision-making context. An advantage of having a 'formula' or 'model' appropriate to a given situation is that the formula indicates what kind of information is needed to obtain a solution or answer to a specific problem." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"Data should not be forced into an uncomfortable or improper mold. For example, data that is appropriate for line graphs is not usually appropriate for circle charts and in any case not without some arithmetic transformation. Only graphs that are designed to fit the data can be used profitably." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"Errors may also creep into the information transfer stage when the originator of the data is unconsciously looking for a particular result. Such situations may occur in interviews or questionnaires designed to gather original data. Improper wording of the question, or improper voice inflections. and other constructional errors may elicit nonobjective responses. Obviously, if the data is incorrectly gathered, any graph based on that data will contain the original error - even though the graph be most expertly designed and beautifully presented." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"If two or more data paths ate to appear on the graph. it is essential that these lines be labeled clearly, or at least a reference should be provided for the reader to make the necessary identifications. While clarity seems to be a most obvious goal. graphs with inadequate or confusing labeling do appear in publications, The user should not find identification of data paths troublesome or subject to misunderstanding. The designer normally should place no more than three data paths on the graph to prevent confusion - particularly if the data paths intersect at one or more points on the Cartesian plane." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"In some situations. the terms describing the data are common knowledge and can be expected to be understood by most individuals. In others. the data is to be used by experts in a particular field, who also can be expected to know the terms. But when technical terms may be misunderstood by the reader. they should be clearly defined. This also implies that terms and concepts should be clearly defined before the original data is gathered. Obviously. one has to know what kind of information to gather for that stage to be of any value." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"Information that is only partially structured (and therefore contains some 'noise' is fuzzy, inconsistent, and indistinct. Such imperfect information may be regarded as having merit only if it represents an intermediate step in structuring the information into a final meaningful form. If the partially structured information remains in fuzzy form, it will create a state of dissatisfaction in the mind of the originator and certainly in the mind of the recipient. The natural desire is to continue structuring until clarity, simplicity, precision, and definitiveness are obtained." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"It is almost impossible to define 'time-sequence chart' in a clear and unambiguous manner because of the many forms and adaptations open to this type of chart. However. it might be said that, in essence, time-sequence chart portrays a chain of activities through time, indicates the type of activity in each link of the chain, shows clearly the position of the link in the total sequence chain, and indicates the duration of each activity. The time sequence chart may also contain verbal elements explaining when to begin an activity, how long to continue the activity, and a description of the activity. The chart may also indicate when to blend a given activity with another and the point at which a given activity is completed. The basic time-sequence chart may also be accompanied by verbal explanations and by secondary or contributory charts." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"Structured information is any type of information that is arranged to show relationships between the minute, individual particles (bits) of information and the final presentation of this information in a logical arrangement with continuity from beginning to end." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"The numerous design possibilities include several varieties of line graphs that are geared to particular types of problems. The design of a graph should be adapted to the type of data being structured. The data might be percentages, index numbers, frequency distributions, probability distributions, rates of change, numbers of dollars, and so on. Consequently, the designer must be prepared to structure his graph accordingly." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"The term information includes data, folklore, and sensory (including olfactory, visual. and so on) experiences. The conclusion, however. that something can be classified as 'information' does not in any manner guarantee the validity of the knowledge. In fact, the validity - that is, the degree of truth in any bit of information may - sometimes (but not always) be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to check out." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"The use of trivial data - particularly in graphic presentation - can easily tire the reader so that he soon becomes disinterested. Graphs should be for information considered highly significant. not for unimportant points." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"The varieties of circle charts are necessarily limited by the lack of basic design variation - a circle is a circle! Also, a circle can be considered as representing only one unit of area. regardless of its size. Thus, circle charts have limited applications, i.e., to show how a given quantity (area) is divided among its component parts,' or to show changes in the variable by showing area changes. A circle chart almost always presents some form of a part-to-total relationship." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"The word data (singular: datum) refers to bits and pieces of information. such as numbers. symbols. words, pictures, gestures, or sounds. Data represent nonstructured information. In short, data are incoherent. whereas information is coherent." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970) 

"To be useful data must be consistent - they must reflect periodic recordings of the value of the variable or at least possess logical internal connections. The definition of the variable under consideration cannot change during the period of measurement or enumeration. Also. if the data are to be valuable, they must be relevant to the question to be answered." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"To understand the need for structuring information, we should examine its opposite - nonstructured information. Nonstructured information may be thought of as exists and can be heard (or sensed with audio devices), but the mind attaches no rational meaning to the sound. In another sense, noise can be equated to writing a group of letters, numbers, and other symbols on a page without any design or key to their meaning. In such a situation, there is nothing the mind can grasp. Nonstructured information can be classified as useless, unless meaning exists somewhere in the jumble and a key can be found to unlock its hidden significance." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

"While circle charts are not likely to present especially new or creative ideas, they do help the user to visualize relationships. The relationships depicted by circle charts do not tend to be very complex, in contrast to those of some line graphs. Normally, the circle chart is used to portray a common type of relationship (namely. part-to-total) in an attractive manner and to expedite the message transfer from designer to user." (Cecil H Meyers, "Handbook of Basic Graphs: A modern approach", 1970)

✏️Mary E Spear - Collected Quotes

"A chart without a border line has several advantages. It is not limited to a designated area. The irregular white space surrounding it makes it more adaptable to any page size. It may be more readily placed either horizontally or vertically on the page, so long as the reduction in the size of the chart does not destroy legibility of lettering." (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

"As a rule, bars should not be broken; if they are, a false conclusion can easily be drawn from the graph. If, however, the total length of any one bar is not essential to the whole picture, it may be broken near the end, so long as the numeral is inserted in the broken portion. This numeral should always appear in such cases, whether or not a scale is used." (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

"Avoid using black to silhouette a trend, as it causes an optical illusion (unless, of course, it is desired to create an illusion). [...] The same illusion is created when deep colors are used on original or reproduced charts." (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

"Determine the significant message in the data. The message is the objective and should not be lost sight of at any stage from the initial planning to the final result. [...] If, on the other hand, the message is more clearly expressed as a statement, a graph should never used. Too often presentations are made that add confusion to the meaning, and a chart is made just for the sake of making a chart." (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

"Graphic presentation is a functional form of art as much as modern painting or architectural design. The painter studies his subject to determine what colors and style and design will best express his ideas. The same kind of imagination is exercised by the graphic artist and analyst.  In addition, the graphic analyst has some of the same problems as the architect. The modern architect studies the family, its hobbies, interests, ambitions, and financial status, among other things, before he designs the new home. The graphic analyst should make just as thorough a study of the characteristics of the data and file uses for which it is intended before he designs his project. In the same way that the architect must know his materials and how they can best be used both in traditional ways and in new ways of his own devising, so must the graphic analyst be familiar with materials and techniques." (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

"In line charts with an arithmetic scale, it is essential to set the base line at zero in order that the correct perspective of the general movement may not be lost. Breaking or leaving off part of the scale leads to misinterpretation, because the trend then shows a disproportionate degree of variation in movement." (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

"In the basic statistical chart, the size of the lettering should be proportional to its importance on the chart. [...] 1. The main title should convey the subject of the graph at a glance. 2, The subtitle supports the main title and carries essential detail, such as date, index base, or limits of coverage. Do not depend on the text of the article or report to give basic information about your chart. The chart itself should include the facts." (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

"Recognize effective results. Does the type of chart selected give a comprehensive picture of the situation? Does the size of chart and visual aid used satisfy all audience requirements? Do materials meet all repro- duction problems? Is the layout well balanced and style of lettering uniform? Does the chart as a whole accurately present the facts? Is the projected idea an effective visual tool?" (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

"The grid with the vertical ruling carrying the logarithmic scale and the horizontal ruling carrying the arithmetic scale denoting time is the most common. The reverse may be used, and the horizontal ruling may carry the log scale. Charts of this type are frequently referred to as 'semilog charts'. [...] The full or double log scale (with the log grid carried on both horizontal and vertical rulings) is used mostly for statistical study and economic analysis and is not a good tool for popular presentation of data." (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

 "The logarithmic chart, while very effective when properly used and understood by the reader, is not for indiscriminate popular presentation. The purpose of this type of chart is to show the rate of change within a trend and not the arithmetic amount of change." (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

"The pie or sector chart makes a comparison of various components with each other and with the whole. However, this type should be used sparingly, especially when there are many segments. It is not only difficult to compare area segments, but most difficult to label them properly. When there are many divisions of the data, a bar chart would give greater clarity." (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

"The statistical map chart constitutes a striking graphic description of geographic relationship. It should be used, however, only when geographic distribution is of paramount importance and when data can be readily and correctly interpreted in this form." (Mary E Spear, "Charting Statistics", 1952)

✏️William C Marshall - Collected Quotes

"A graph, like a general table, may be prepared with no other object in view than to present in graphical form a given set of facts." (William C Marshall, "Graphical methods for schools, colleges, statisticians, engineers and executives", 1921)

"A graph is a pictorial representation or statement of a series of values all drawn to scale. It gives a mental picture of the results of statistical examination in one case while in another it enables calculations to be made by drawing straight lines or it indicates a change in quantity together with the rate of that change. A graph then is a picture representing some happenings and so designed as to bring out all points of significance in connection with those happenings. When the curve has been plotted delineating these happenings a general inspection of it shows the essential character of the table or formula from which it was derived." (William C Marshall, "Graphical methods for schools, colleges, statisticians, engineers and executives", 1921)

"A nomograph of a formula is a graph or diagram composed of lines scaled relatively and placed in such relative positions that the values of the variables are found on a line crossing the scales. The object is to substitute for the labor of computation a simple mechanical operation such as the one previously described. It is easy to read a nomogram with precision because of the few lines. It provides a tabulation of all possible values, enables solutions to be made irrespective of what quantity in the formula is unknown and also enables one to observe instantly the effect of a change, either small or great, in any one of the variables. The principles of such diagrams may be given in a general way and simple nomograms be constructed, but equations with many unknown quantities cannot be solved graphically without higher mathematics." (William C Marshall, "Graphical methods for schools, colleges, statisticians, engineers and executives", 1921)

"At the present time there is a total lack of standardization in the form of diagram to use for nearly all classes of representation. This makes it difficult to compare reports of different investigators on the same subject because their diagrams are not constructed alike." (William C Marshall, "Graphical methods for schools, colleges, statisticians, engineers and executives", 1921)

"Business executives cannot afford to ignore the merits of graphical representation which have for so long been accepted by the engineer and man of science. They must look behind the graphical method and study the conditions leading to the picture along with the picture itself. No business is too small to profit by an examination which shall analyze and scrutinize nor too large to ignore its possibilities. Each business must adjust the graphical methods to its own peculiarities and each diagram must be adjusted to the individual for whom it is prepared or the individual must be educated up to the use and importance of these methods of analysis." (William C Marshall, "Graphical methods for schools, colleges, statisticians, engineers and executives", 1921)

"Graphical methods are employed to a large extent in physical investigations as aids to calculation and for the purpose of exhibiting the nature of the law of variation of various phenomena." (William C Marshall, "Graphical methods for schools, colleges, statisticians, engineers and executives", 1921)

"Graphical methods are inferior to numerical in accuracy. Ease and rapidity are essential when we want to compare many sets of facts together because if the mind is long delayed in taking in the facts of one set it loses count of the others. The function of graphical representation is to facilitate comparison." (William C Marshall, "Graphical methods for schools, colleges, statisticians, engineers and executives", 1921)

"Graphical methods comprise all those methods of representing the relations of objects or facts by means of the relations between the lines of a diagram. All devices for representing by geometrical figures the numerical data which result from the quantitative investigation of phenomena are included under this title." (William C Marshall, "Graphical methods for schools, colleges, statisticians, engineers and executives", 1921) 

"Readers of statistical diagrams should not be required to compare magnitudes in more than one dimension. Visual comparisons of areas are particularly inaccurate and should not be necessary in reading any statistical graphical diagram." (William C Marshall, "Graphical methods for schools, colleges, statisticians, engineers and executives", 1921)

 "The chief problems in the technique of historigram [aka histogram] plotting are those of base line scales, types of lines to use for the graphs and methods of and purposes of smoothing these curves. The size of page, ability of grasp by the eye, subsequent treatment of the illustration, etc., are determining factors. The variable factor is usually plotted from a base line along the ordinate axis. Spacing and rules for scales apply as in frequency diagrams." (William C Marshall, "Graphical methods for schools, colleges, statisticians, engineers and executives", 1921)

✏️Terry Richey - Collected Quotes

"A common mistake in problem solving is to encompass too much territory, which dilutes any solutions chance of success. [...] However, the opposite error occurs more frequently." (Terry Richey, "The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit", 1994)

"But business fosters a particular fondness for tactics. That emphasis can lead to an imbalance that reduces the opportunities for success. We get so wrapped up in tactics - doing things to meet a quota or deadline, executing someone else's orders - that we miss the reason behind the tactics. Eventually the purpose of the tactic fades away, but the rules, quotas, deadlines, forms, and frustration remain." (Terry Richey, "The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit", 1994)

"One of the issues involved in moving strategy making down into the business organization concerns common understanding or focus. To carry out tactics, we do not need to share common objectives. But with strategy, we must interpret conditions, events, and actions in a similar manner to have any hope of creating a successful plan." (Terry Richey, "The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit", 1994)

"One proven way to share a common understanding of your market and your position in it is to create a Strategic Map. You build the map by searching for the two most critical variables that separate how you and your competitors differ and then plotting these variables in a box divided into quadrants. Building a Strategic Map of your business and creating consensus on the accuracy of that model can dramatically enhance the process of defining strategy and constructing results-driven marketing programs. The visual nature of your model keeps it top of mind and in clearer focus than words on paper can do alone." (Terry Richey, "The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit", 1994)

"Segmenting a market requires information, intuition, and imagination. No right answer exists in segmentation. You need to find a breakdown of the market based on hard data. You can obtain this demographic and psychographic data from your own customers, from published research, or from new research. But of all the ways to break down the market, you'll end up needing a good measure of intuition, placing your feel for the market into the process. Finally, segmentation means little without the imagination of how to use it to its fullest potential." (Terry Richey, "The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit", 1994)

"Strategy and tactics. Thinking and doing. Vision and execution. Whatever you call it, finding a balance between these two powerful forces of success remains a lifelong search for the best in any field: military leader, artist, baseball coach, or marketing manager." (Terry Richey, "The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit", 1994)

"The key to strategy is the ability to think forward and reason backward. We imagine where the future will take us and then build a pathway back to today. The problem lies in not knowing which of many possible futures will unfold. A Decision Tree allows you to visualize these futures and evaluate their potential impact from the future, rather than from today." (Terry Richey, "The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit", 1994)

"The key to successful brainstorming lies in the team's willingness to suspend disbelief and experiment with new ways of looking at opportunities - something that can be done with a Morpho Box. At this point, concentrating on only the positive possibilities without reference to the inherent problems makes the process work." (Terry Richey, "The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit", 1994)

"The square has always had a no-nonsense sort of image. Stable, solid, and - well - square. Perhaps that's why it is the shape used in business visuals in those rare cases where a visual is even bothered with. Flip through most business books and you'll find precious few places for your eye to stop and your visual brain to engage. But when you do, the shape of the graphic, chart, matrix, table, or diagram is certainly square. It's a comfortable shape, which makes it a valuable implement in your kit of visual communication tools." (Terry Richey, "The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit", 1994)

"The triangle is one of the best tools for visualizing a problem. Every difficult problem I've encountered in business breaks down into pieces, which carry different weight and importance. The pieces with the most importance sit at the top of the triangle, which progresses down to the sometimes thorny but less important piece at the base." (Terry Richey, "The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit", 1994)

"Visual thinking can begin with the three basic shapes we all learned to draw before kindergarten: the triangle, the circle, and the square. The triangle encourages you to rank parts of a problem by priority. When drawn into a triangle, these parts are less likely to get out of order and take on more importance than they should. While the triangle ranks, the circle encloses and can be used to include and/or exclude. Some problems have to be enclosed to be managed. Finally, the square serves as a versatile problem-solving tool. By assigning it attributes along its sides or corners, we can suddenly give a vague issue a specific place to live and to move about." (Terry Richey, "The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit", 1994)

✏️Willard C Brinton - Collected Quotes

"A warning seems justifiable that the background of a chart should not be made any more prominent than actually necessary. Many charts have such heavy coordinate ruling and such relatively narrow lines for curves or other data that the real facts the chart is intended to portray do not stand out clearly from the background. No more coordinate lines should be used than are absolutely necessary to guide the eye of the reader and to permit an easy reading of the curves." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"After a person has collected data and studied a proposition with great care so that his own mind is made up as to the best solution for the problem, he is apt to feel that his work is about completed. Usually, however, when his own mind is made up, his task is only half done. The larger and more difficult part of the work is to convince the minds of others that the proposed solution is the best one - that all the recommendations are really necessary. Time after time it happens that some ignorant or presumptuous member of a committee or a board of directors will upset the carefully-thought-out plan of a man who knows the facts, simply because the man with the facts cannot present his facts readily enough to overcome the opposition. It is often with impotent exasperation that a person having the knowledge sees some fallacious conclusion accepted, or some wrong policy adopted, just because known facts cannot be marshalled and presented in such manner as to be effective." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"As a general rule dates should always be arranged to read from left to right, and columns of figures should be arranged with the column for the earlier date at the left. A common exception is made, however, in the case of financial reports when it is desired to show the most recent year next to the various type-headings relating to earnings, expenses, etc." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919) 

"Comparison between circles of different size should be absolutely avoided. It is inexcusable when we have available simple methods of charting so good and so convenient from every point of view as the horizontal bar." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"Co-ordinate ruling does not appear prominently on most original charts because •the ruling is usually printed in some color of ink distinct from the curve itself. When, however, a chart is reproduced in a line engraving the co-ordinate lines come out the same color as the curve or other important data, and there may be too little contrast to assist the reader." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"'Correlation' is a term used to express the relation which exists between two series or groups of data where there is a causal connection. In order to have correlation it is not enough that the two sets of data should both increase or decrease simultaneously. For correlation it is necessary that one set of facts should have some definite causal dependence upon the other set [...]" (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919) 

"Graphic comparisons, wherever possible, should be made in one dimension only." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"If only one scale is used, it should be placed at the left-hand side of the chart. In very large charts it is sometimes desirable to repeat the scale at the right-hand side as well. Where two different units of measurement are used in the scales, the units should be carefully named so that there will be no danger of the reader's using the right-hand and the left-hand scales interchangeably as though they represented the same unit." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"In any chart where index numbers are used the greatest care should be taken to select as unity a set of conditions thoroughly typical and representative. It is frequently best to take as unity the average of a series of years immediately preceding the years for which a study is to be made. The series of years averaged to represent unity should, if possible, be so selected that they will include one full cycle or wave of fluctuation. If one complete cycle involves too many years, the years selected as unity should be taken in equal number on either side of a year which represents most nearly the normal condition." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919) 

"In general, the comparison of two circles of different size should be strictly avoided. Many excellent works on statistics approve the comparison of circles of different size, and state that the circles should always be drawn to represent the facts on an area basis rather than on a diameter basis. The rule, however, is not always followed and the reader has no way of telling whether the circles compared have been drawn on a diameter basis or on an area basis, unless the actual figures for the data are given so that the dimensions may be verified." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"In many presentations it is not a question of saving time to the reader but a question of placing the arguments in such form that results may surely be obtained. For matters affecting public welfare, it is hard to estimate the benefits which may accrue if a little care be used in presenting data so that they will be convincing to the reader." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"It is desirable in all chart work to have certain conventions by which colors would be understood to have certain definite meanings. Thus, following railroad practice, red could generally be used in chart work to indicate dangerous or unfavorable conditions, and green to indicate commended features or favorable conditions. Where neither commendation nor adverse criticism is intended, colors such as blue, yellow, brown, etc., could be used." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"It is difficult to make a general rule for determining in any case which is the independent variable and which is the dependent variable. The decision depends entirely on how any set of data is approached and on the habits of mind of the investigator. When time is one of the variables it is usually, but not always, the independent variable." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"It should be a strict rule for all kinds of curve plotting that the horizontal scale must be used. for the independent variable and the vertical scale for the dependent variable. When the curves are plotted by this rule the reader can instantly select a set of conditions from the horizontal scale and read the information from the vertical scale. If there were no rule relating to the arrangement of scales for the independent and dependent variables, the reader would never be able to tell whether he should approach a chart from the vertical scale and read the information from the horizontal scale, or the reverse." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"Judgment must be used in the showing of figures in any chart or numerical presentation, so that the figures may not give an appearance of greater accuracy than their method of collection would warrant. Too many otherwise excellent reports contain figures which give the impression of great accuracy when in reality the figures may be only the crudest approximations. Except in financial statements, it is a safe rule to use ciphers whenever possible at the right of all numbers of great size. The use of the ciphers greatly simplifies the grasping of the figures by the reader, and, at the same time, it helps to avoid the impression of an accuracy which is not warranted by the methods of collecting the data." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919) 

 "Misleading figures implying a greater accuracy than justifiable are very often found as a result of the addition of different quantities some of which are large and some small. The small quantities may have a great degree of accuracy, but this does not give accuracy to the sum of all the quantities, for the total cannot be any more accurate than the most inaccurate item included in the total. If a very large item is not accurate within ten thousand, then it is useless to include in the grand total the three right-hand digits which may be obtained as the result of addition. When some of the items included are so small that they are in tens or hundreds, the addition should be made to include all the digits. After the sum is known then all those digits whose accuracy is doubtful in the total should be replaced by ciphers." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"Most authors would greatly resent it if they were told that their writings contained great exaggerations, yet many of these same authors permit their work to be illustrated with charts which are so arranged as to cause an erroneous interpretation. If authors and editors will inspect their charts as carefully as they revise their written matter, we shall have, in a very short time, a standard of reliability in charts and illustrations just as high as now found in the average printed page." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919) 

"Of course, no two businesses can have identical organizations. The skeleton may be the same, however, and just as the proper study of the functions of the human body begins with the skeleton, so the study of organization should begin with those simple outlines which appear, in the main, in all completely and successfully organized businesses. Very few enterprises are organized properly. Very few have an organization that can be charted at all. That is one reason why there is such inefficiency in industry." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

 "One of a business man's chief assets is his ability to show things to others in their true proportions. He is continually making contrasts, and holding up for comparison different propositions which come up in his daily affairs. The graphic method lends itself admirably to use in making comparisons. It is surprising how much clearer even simple comparisons of only two or three items will appear when their numerical value is put in graphic form rather than in figures."  (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"Ordinarily, facts do not speak for themselves. When they do speak for themselves, the wrong conclusions are often drawn from them. Unless the facts are presented in a clear and interesting manner, they are about as effective as a phonograph record with the phonograph missing." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"Sometimes the scales of these accompanying charts are so large that the reader is puzzled to get clearly in his mind what the whole chart is driving at. There is a possibility of making a simple chart on such a large scale that the mere size of the chart adds to its complexity by causing the reader to glance from one side of the chart to the other in trying to get a condensed visualization of the chart." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919) 

"The title for any chart presenting data in the graphic form should be so clear and so complete that the chart and its title could be removed from the context and yet give all the information necessary for a complete interpretation of the data. Charts which present new or especially interesting facts are very frequently copied by many magazines. A chart with its title should be considered a unit, so that anyone wishing to make an abstract of the article in which the chart appears could safely transfer the chart and its title for use elsewhere." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919) 

"The principles of charting and curve plotting are not at all complex, and it is surprising that many business men dodge the simplest charts as though they involved higher mathematics or contained some sort of black magic. [...] The trouble at present is that there are no standards by which graphic presentations can be prepared in accordance with definite rules so that their interpretation by the reader may be both rapid and accurate. It is certain that there will evolve for methods of graphic presentation a few useful and definite rules which will correspond with the rules of grammar for the spoken and written language." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919) 

"The scales of any curve-chart should be so selected that the chart will not be exaggerated in either the horizontal or the vertical direction. It is possible to cause a visual exaggeration of data by carelessly or intentionally selecting a scale which unduly stretches the chart in either the horizontal or the vertical direction. Just as the English language can be used to exaggerate to the ear, so charts can exaggerate to the eye." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"There are a number of comparatively little-known short cuts and convenient methods available in the collection and recording of statistical facts. If obsolete or unsuitable methods are used it may make a difference between success and failure in the work of keeping records of any complex business. When the methods of tabulation are too laborious, not only are the records so extensive as to be in disfavor, but they may occasionally include errors, in spite of the greatest care that can be taken by even the highest grade of employees. Anything which will reduce the amount of mental concentration necessary on the part of persons collecting and tabulating facts, will ordinarily assist-in the production of more accurate final results." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"Though graphic presentations are used to a very large extent to-day there are at present no standard rules by which the person preparing a chart may know that he is following good practice. This is unfortunate because it permits everyone making a chart to follow his own sweet will. Many charts are being put out to-day from which it would seem that the person making them had tried deliberately to get up some method as different as possible from any which had ever been used previously." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919) 

"Though variety in method of charting is sometimes desirable in large reports where numerous illustrations must follow each other closely, or in wall exhibits where there must be a great number of charts in rapid sequence, it is better in general to use a variety of effects simply to attract attention, and to present the data themselves according to standard well-known methods." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"Though accurate data and real facts are valuable, when it comes to getting results the manner of presentation is ordinarily more important than the facts themselves. The foundation of an edifice is of vast importance. Still, it is not the foundation but the structure built upon the foundation which gives the result for which the whole work was planned. As the cathedral is to its foundation so is an effective presentation of facts to the data." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"To summarize - with the ordinary arithmetical scale, fluctuations in large factors are very noticeable, while relatively greater fluctuations in smaller factors are barely apparent. The logarithmic scale permits the graphic representation of changes in every quantity without respect to the magnitude of the quantity itself. At the same time, the logarithmic scale shows the actual value by reference to the numbers in the vertical scale. By indicating both absolute and relative values and changes, the logarithmic scale combines the advantages of both the natural and the percentage scale without the disadvantages of either." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"Unlimited numbers of reports, magazines, and newspapers are now giving us reams of quantitative facts. If the facts were put in graphic form, not only would there be a great saving in the time of the readers but there would be infinite gain to society, because more facts could be absorbed and with less danger of misinterpretation. Graphic methods usually require no more space than is needed if the facts are presented in the form of words. In many cases, the graphic method requires less space than is required for words and there is, besides, the great advantage that with graphic methods facts are presented so that the reader may make deductions of his own, while when words are used the reader must usually accept the ready-made conclusions handed to him." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"When large numbers of curves and charts are used by a corporation, it will be found advantageous to have certain standard abbreviations and symbols on the face of the chart so that information may be given in condensed form as a signal to anyone reading the charts." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919)

"When curves become as widely understood as the bar method of presentation, it will be found that curves can be used advantageously in almost every case where it is now common to use either vertical or horizontal bars." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919) 

"When plotting any curve the vertical scale should, if possible, be chosen so that the zero of the scale will appear on the chart. Otherwise, the reader may assume the bottom of the chart to be zero and so be grossly misled. Zero should always be indicated by a broad line much wider than the ordinary co-ordinate lines used for the background of the chart." (Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts", 1919) 

✏️Jacques Bertin - Collected Quotes

"A graphic should not only show the leaves, it should show the branches as well as the entire tree." (Jacques Bertin, "The Semiology of Graphics", 1967)

"Graphic representation constitutes one of the basic sign-systems conceived by the human mind for the purposes of storing, understanding, and communicating essential information. As a "language" for the eye, graphics benefits from the ubiquitous properties of visual perception. As a monosemic system, it forms the rational part of the world of images. […] Graphics owes its special significance to its double function as a storage mechanism and a research instrument."  (Jacques Bertin, "The Semiology of Graphics" ["Semiologie Graphique"], 1967)

"The aim of the graphic is to make the relationship among previously defined sets appear." (Jacques Bertin, "The Semiology of Graphics" ["Semiologie Graphique"], 1967)

"The great difference between the graphic representation of yesterday, which was poorly dissociated from the figurative image, and the graphics of tomorrow, is the disappearance of the congential fixity of the image. […] When one can superimpose, juxtapose, transpose, and permute graphic images in ways that lead to groupings and classings, the graphic image passes from the dead image, the 'illustration,' to the living image, the widely accessible research instrument it is now becoming. The graphic is no longer only the 'representation' of a final simplification, it is a point of departure for the discovery of these simplifications and the means for their justification. The graphic has become, by its manageability, an instrument for information processing." (Jacques Bertin, "The Semiology of Graphics" ["Semiologie Graphique"], 1967)

"The plane is the mainstay of all graphic representation. It is so familiar that its properties seem self-evident, but the most familiar things are often the most poorly understood. The plane is homogeneous and has two dimensions. The visual consequences of these properties must be fully explored." (Jacques Bertin, "The Semiology of Graphics" ["Semiologie Graphique"], 1967)

"The problem that still remains to be solved is that of the orderable matrix, that needs the use of imagination […] When the two components of a data table are orderable, the normal construction is the orderable matrix. Its permutations show the analogy and the complementary nature that exist between the algorithmic treatments and the graphical treatments." (Jacques Bertin, "The Semiology of Graphics" ["Semiologie Graphique"], 1967)

"There are as many types of questions as components in the information." (Jacques Bertin, "The Semiology of Graphics" ["Semiologie Graphique"], 1967)

"To analyse graphic representation precisely, it is helpful to distinguish it from musical, verbal and mathematical notations, all of which are perceived in a linear or temporal sequence. The graphic image also differs from figurative representation essentially polysemic, and from the animated image, governed by the laws of cinematographic time. Within the boundaries of graphics fall the fields of networks, diagrams and maps. The domain of graphic imagery ranges from the depiction of atomic structures to the representation of galaxies and extends into the spheres of topography and cartography." (Jacques Bertin, "The Semiology of Graphics" ["Semiologie Graphique"], 1967)

"As with any graphic, networks are used in order to discover pertinent troups of to inform others of the groups and structures discovered. It is a good means of displaying structures, However, it ceases to be a means of discovery when the elements are numerous. The figure rapidly becomes complex, illegible and untransformable." (Jacques Bertin, "Graphics and graphic information processing", 1977)

"Computers are able to multiply useless images without taking into account that, by definition, every graphic corresponds to a table. This table allows you to think about three basic questions that go from the particular to the general level. When this last one receives an answer, you have answers for all of them. Understanding means accessing the general level and discovering significant grouping (patterns). Consequently, the function of a graphic is answering the three following questions:
Which are the X,Y, Z components of the data table? (What it’s all about?)
What are the groups in X, in Y that Z builds? (What the information at the general level is?
What are the exceptions?

"These questions can be applied to every kind of problem. They measure the usefulness of whatever construction or graphical invention allowing you to avoid useless graphics." (Jacques Bertin, [interview] 2003)

"Data is transformed into graphics to understand. A map, a diagram are documents to be interrogated. But understanding means integrating all of the data. In order to do this it’s necessary to reduce it to a small number of elementary data. This is the objective of the 'data treatment' be it graphic or mathematic." (Jacques Bertin, [interview] 2003)

"The use of computers shouldn't ignore the objectives of graphics, that are: 1) Treating data to get information. 2) Communicating, when necessary, the information obtained." (Jacques Bertin, [interview] 2003)

"Graphics is the visual means of resolving logical problems." (Jacques Bertin, "Graphics and Graphic Information Processing", 2011)

✏️Daniel B Carr - Collected Quotes

"Binning has two basic limitations. First, binning sacrifices resolution. Sometimes plots of the raw data will reveal interesting fine structure that is hidden by binning. However, advantages from binning often outweigh the disadvantage from lost resolution. [...] Second, binning does not extend well to high dimensions. With reasonable univariate resolution, say 50 regions each covering 2% of the range of the variable, the number of cells for a mere 10 variables is exceedingly large. For uniformly distributed data, it would take a huge sample size to fill a respectable fraction of the cells. The message is not so much that binning is bad but that high dimensional space is big. The complement to the curse of dimensionality is the blessing of large samples. Even in two and three dimensions having lots of data can bc very helpful when the observations are noisy and the structure non-trivial." (Daniel B Carr, "Looking at Large Data Sets Using Binned Data Plots", [in "Computing and Graphics in Statistics"] 1991)

"There is an interplay between statistical models and graphics, so it is advantageous to think about models before making a series of plots." (Daniel B Carr, "Looking at Large Data Sets Using Binned Data Plots", [in "Computing and Graphics in Statistics"] 1991)

"Working with binned data directly addresses large data set issues of computation and plotting speed. Almost everything that can bc done with the original data can be done faster with binned data. Further, working with binned data allows image processing algorithms to be adapted and applied to bin cells. Thus tools can bc brought to bare that are not traditionally associated with exploratory data analysis." (Daniel B Carr, "Looking at Large Data Sets Using Binned Data Plots", [in "Computing and Graphics in Statistics"] 1991)

"A scatterplot would show the relationship between [...] two variables in more detail, but would not convey the spatial patterns shown in […] micromap panels. Using conditioning to define a comparative grid of panels, […] changes an investigation from a sequential filtering of one variable at a time to more of a multivariable approach. In this context we can assess functional relationships, densities, or geospatial patterns within panels as well as changes across panels." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"Another method used to simplify the appearance of a graphic is smoothing. A regression line overlaid on a scatterplot is a smooth representation of the relationship between the two graph variables. For time series data, a moving average of the data over time is often used to smooth out the variation over small time steps in order to illustrate the overall trend." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"Designing good visual displays with an easy-to-use interactive system is difficult. The designer’s first attempts will usually fail, so it is critical that proposed systems be tested on at least several sets of typical users. These usability tests help the designer iterate to the best possible system." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"Given the small size of micromaps, the blocks of color on choropleth maps have the advantage of being more visible than if the values were displayed by small symbols or hatch patterns on the map. Using highly saturated colors makes small areas stand out even more. On the other hand, the eye can be drawn to large blocks of color that represent small populations […] A micromap re-design may attempt to mitigate this areal bias by increasing the size of small […] states, but the analyst needs to be aware of this potential problem when using micromaps to communicate to others. The conditioned micromap design can partially address this issue by conditioning on population." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"Hue is the color dimension that is associated with wavelength of light and with names of colors, such as red, yellow, and blue. Most languages around the world include words for black, white, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, pink, purple, orange, and gray. Differences in hue are best used for encoding different attributes, as in a qualitative graph or unordered variables. Different wavelengths have different focal lengths, so what we 'see' is a compromise between the actual and perceived distance to the image. Most people perceive long-wavelength colors, such as red and orange, as being closer to their eyes than short-wavelength colors, such as blue and green." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"In addition to smoothing boundaries, we can smooth the data. The simultaneous smoothing of variation over space, time, or attributes can help us to see the central patterns that would otherwise be hidden by local variation (noise). Local averaging of values usually can provide less biased estimates of spatial and temporal processes, just as the regression line can provide an unbiased estimate of a linear relationship between variables. However, smoothing can actually mask patterns, particularly important outliers, if we smooth over places that are dissimilar in some relevant attribute." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"Micromap graphics differ from most of [other] methodology in two ways. First, by definition, micromaps always include maps among the views of study units. Second, micromaps use different methods to highlight study units. Linked micromaps sort the study units, partition them into small subsets, and systematically highlight these subsets. The conditioned micromaps and many comparative micromaps use a three-class slider to partition." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"Much of a statistician’s training, especially in thinking about patterns, is related to the statistical tasks of describing and comparing distributions and to creating and refining models that describe how variables are related. There is little direct focus on the tasks of pattern identification, distribution comparison, and model building in the web page design and usability literature. Instead, that community is more focused on searching for and filtering information, drilling down to find a specific piece of information and navigation on the web. Nonetheless, good tools for one purpose often can be adapted to another purpose." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"People have different approaches to reasoning about data, depending on their skills and experience, but research has shown that there are commonalities in their processing steps. Some researchers call this sense making. A classical statistical analysis is usually straightforward, consisting of sequential steps of experimental design, the conduct of the experiment, and a statistical summary of results. An exploratory analysis is often interactive and less structured. Usually there is a phase of information gathering and preliminary processing, followed by choice of the representation method that will address the question at hand or questions raised by preliminary graphics." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"[…] perceptual accuracy decreases with distance, so columns that are to be compared should be side by side. Current linked micromap software requires the user." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"Saturation, also referred to as chroma or intensity, measures the purity of the color. A highly saturated color has little or no gray in it, while a highly desaturated color is almost gray, with none of the original color. You may be more familiar with the term shade, which refers to a mix of pigment and black paint, or tint, a mix of pigment and white paint. We only perceive a few different steps of varying saturation, so changing saturation alone is not effective for encoding a quantitative variable. However, the eye is drawn to highly saturated colors, so these can be used to good effect for drawing attention to a part of the visualization. In addition, highly saturated colors stand out more and so can be used as fill colors to improve the visibility of small symbols or areas." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"Scatterplots are the preferred medium for adding smooth curves to show a causal functional relationship or an association […] However, despite the advantage of the scatterplot for seeing some types of patterns, the linked micromap design adds geographic location to the information displayed and so enables searches for geographic patterns that the scatterplot omits." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"Statistical models typically decompose observed values into fit and residuals. Mapping fitted values shows broad patterns that may help us to understand and explain the process that generated the data. Mapping residuals can show us a mixture of noise and anomalies. Sometimes we are more interested in the broad patterns, but at other times we wish to identify the anomalies, e.g., where some corrective action needs to be taken." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"The power of graphics to aid understanding is well recognized, but with power comes the risk of misuse. Some people advocate the restriction of graphs and data to avoid misuse or to avoid drawing attention to problems. As educators we seek to provide both tools and education with the hope that learning will continue. Graphics can be misused, but our position is that people can learn from mistakes. We also believe that when many people can see and share perspectives, we are in a better position to see constructively and shape the world." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)

"The use of color is so fundamental in visualization design that its perception requires an in-depth discussion [...]. Using color well is not easy. Color is one of those concepts that everyone thinks they understand, but that is really more complex than it first appears." (Daniel B Carr & Linda W Pickle, "Visualizing Data Patterns with Micromaps", 2010)