Data Soliloquies

by Richard Hamblyn, Martin John Callanan

Data Soliloquies is a book about the extraordinary cultural fluidity of scientific data. A wide array of graphs, charts, computer models and other forms of visual advocacy have become inescapable fixtures of public science presentations, though they are often treated as if they were neutral 'found objects' rather than elaborate narrative constructions containing high levels of statistical uncertainty.

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Richard Hamblyn studied at the universities of Essex and Cambridge, where he wrote a doctoral dissertation on 18th-century topographical writing. His first book, The Invention of Clouds (2001) told the story of Luke Howard, the amateur meteorologist who named the clouds in 1802; his other publications include The Cloud Book (2008) and Extraordinary Clouds (2009), both published in association with the (UK) Met Office; Data Soliloquies (2009), co-written with the digital artist Martin John Callanan; and Terra: Tales of the Earth, a collection of stories about major natural disasters. His anthology, The Art of Science: A Natural History of Ideas, was published by Picador in October 2011. It is a wide-ranging collection of readable science writing from the Babylonians to the Higgs boson.

Reviews

[Jerzy]

A delightful mystery: I found this book in my office mailbox today, in an envelope addressed to me and postmarked from Germany, but with no return address or note from the sender. No idea why it was sent to me, but I look forward to reading it...

It seems to be based on exhibitions by one of the authors, artist Martin John Callanan, whose business card was also in the envelope. See here and here.

[Benjamin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little bit pointless, and feels like it's still in draft. Nice cover though. Accidentally stole this from UCL Common Room, so perhaps that's karma.