Customer Reviews

Graph Design for the Eye and Mind

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I admit that I'm a graph junkie, and that I've already spent years obsessing over the details my own graphs and those of others. I'm almost incapable of processing data unless I can create a meaningful picture of it. I'll actually scan journals and books looking for satisfying graphs. I actually will take money from people to make graphs for them. I already have too many books on graph making, including everything by Tufte. I've sat through Gore's new global warming movie a few times just to check out the cool graphics. I mean, who ever heard of a movie that was 90% graphs???

This is a sick, sick book. This insidious thing is my drug of choice. But now I've overdosed on all the figures portrayed from beginning to end. There must be three hundred of these mother's little helpers, including an enormous stash of "do's" and "don'ts" sprinkled everywhere. The whole thing is infused with visual and cognitive science, which is like heroin in my dark and distorted world. All of this has been crystallized into 8 principles - the drug in its pure form. I've already thrown away millions of dollars on Kosslyn's books on cognitive neuroscience and now he's pushing this one. What can I say? I've relapsed and I can't stop. I'm powerless over my addiction. In my weakened state, I plan to push this book on my grad students and clients. Kosslyn has engineered the most powerful and dangerous book on graph making ever to see the light of day, injecting it with science and acidic creativity. They should lock this Kosslyn guy up and throw away the key(board) before he causes any more trouble.

Sept 12, 2006 update:

Well, I'm getting good hate mail for the review above (originally posted Sept 1). So let me clarify: I loved this book.

This is my favorite book on graph making. First off, I think anybody who designs graphs will find it easy to use and helpful. It guides designers through the steps of choosing a graph format and optimizing the graph's features. It provides hundreds of illustrations, including examples of "do's" and "don'ts." One of the most amazing things about this book is that it is authored by Stephen Kosslyn, an eminent cognitive neuroscientist and the world's leading expert on imagery. The essentials of perceptual and cognitive science are here, and they are put to work in simple yet effective ways. So Kosslyn's groundbreaking book provides remarkably practical and simple guidelines, but it also contains considerable scientific depth.

This is a phenomenal book on designing graphs so they can be understood. It is clearly written, well reasoned, and full of very practical advice and good examples. There is nothing else like it. If you need to create effective, accurate graphs, and read just one book, this is the one.

It should be noted that it is effectively a re-writing and update of his earlier book Elements of Graph Design.

through the use of design and perspective on the presentation of data to a user...