Edward R. Tufte: Visual Explanations : Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative (Hardcover); 1997 Edition

This book describes design strategies-the proper arrangement in space and time of images, words, and numbers-for presenting information about motion, process, mechanism, cause and effect. These strategies are found again and again in portrayals of explanations, quite independent of the particular substantive content or technology of display. Many of our examples suggest that clarity and excellence in thinking is very much like clarity and excellence in the dispay of data. When principles of design replicate principles of thought, the act of arranging information becomes an act of insight. The first part of this book examines the logic of depicting quantitative evidence. What principles should inform our designs for showing data? Where do those principles come from? How can the integrity of quantitative descriptions be maintained in the face of complex and animated representations of data? What are the standards for evaluating visual evidence, especially for making decisions and reaching conclusions? The second part considers design strategies, often for the arrangement of images as narrative. Here the issues are more visual-and lyrical-than quantitative. The idea is to make designs that enchance the richness, complexity, resolution, dimensionality, and clarity of the content. Several of the illustrations have been edited and redrawn (as noted in the citations) in order to repair battered originals, to make new color separations, and to improve the design. Primary sources-the thems for my variations-are always indicated.