Customer Reviews

Visual Revelations: Graphical Tales of Fate and Deception From Napoleon Bonaparte To Ross Perot

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

 

 

Don't waste your time on this one. Get Ed Tufte's first two books. Wainer spends many pages regurgitating and adulating Tufte's previously published work--unfortunately with less clarity.

Having read Tufte's "The visual display of Quantitative Information" and this book of Howard Wainer, I think Tufte's book is better. If Tufte's book is five or four stars, this one would be one star less.

It seems as though Tufte's books set the standard, and Wainer acknowledges this. Many of his examples are similar to that in Tufte's book, and he covers much of the same material. There are overlaps (and when there are, Tufte's book is usually more comprehensive). But Wainer's book also covers material that Tufte does not cover well or at all.

Wainer's approach is also different. His first two long chapters are about "graphical failures" and rules for how to display data badly. These failures are very instructive and draws the reader in to try and create improvement. His next five chapters are about graphical triumphs, not as useful as the first two chapters, but still enjoyable. His chapters here are short, too short in fact, and sometimes too dense. Here I liked his discussion of Feynman diagrams as a case in how diagrams can open up understanding of complex ideas. Chapters 8-13 are probably where there is the least overlap with Tufte (such as the discussions of trilinear plots, Nigthingale rose, double Y-axis graphs, a good discussion of pie charts, and implicit graphs.) At this point, one could stop reading as the last 30 pages or so are better covered in Tufte's book.

Overall, this is a useful book, with some insights not found in Tufte. The book is easy to read and very instructive. But if you had a limited budget, I would buy Tufte's book.

This work has been covered by Tufte Generally better, and Tuftes books are cheaper. The material is sound but the print quality in this book is not as good as Tuftes Graphic Press, The majority of the charts are reproduced in the text in black and white, while some are duplicated in color plates (many look like Photographs) the quality is very Variable. However the Subject is worth while and demands wider coverage, especially given the strange directions Tufte has taken in his 4th book , lets hope the Author will be encouraged to "try" again.

I read this book, cover to cover, after flipping through looking at the pictures. What a great read! I will never look at a chart again, without a newfound (and critical ) eye towards the graphical representation of the information. I am also glad to see the author writing for the on-line e-zine IntellectualCapital -

I heard Howard Wainer speak at a conference last week, and I am ordering his book sight unseen. His intellect, wit, and humor in front of the group was amazing. If the book captures half of that, it will be a treat.