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

by Howard Wainer

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

Genres: Nonfiction

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 1997

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The observations and advice are spot on and very consistent with good design practices. Similar to Edward Tufte (whom he cites) but less drawn out. Altogether a good guide on presenting data visually and accurately.