I bought this book as it was recommended reading by an excel MVP (I'm on a bit of an excel learning binge) in addition to a few others by Stephen Few. Though the cover of this book was the most "bland" of them all I ended up reading the intro and the first chapter and becoming very interested in the ideas on the visual presentation of (quantitative) data, particularly the graphic showing the number of troops that Napoleon started and ended with on his campaign into Russia (I wasn't even sure of what multi-variate data was but I soon gained an appreciation for its proper presentation).
As each chapter went on I became even more interested in the material that was presented as it seemed very logical and intuitive. I especially enjoyed Professor Tufte's guidelines on maximizing the "data-ink" and minimizing "non data-ink", and was amazed at how he applied these guidelines to graphs I have been using and teaching for many years, making them seem simpler and not as cluttered even if he suggested the "unthinkable" by leaving out gridlines or piece of the axes.
I must admit that I am a bit skeptical about leaving out grid-lines when I produce graphs in excel but I appreciate that making them lighter really helps to de-clutter a graph. But I was totally blown away by how he simplified box and whisker diagrams into quartile plots and how he even removed portions of the vertical and horizontal axis making the graphs easier to read and somewhat more informative.
I'd love to teach these principle to my students (I'm a private tutor) but I know that their in-school teachers would not allow their use as the syllabuses are somewhat antiquated (as are some of the teachers, their beliefs, and methods). They'd probably lose their minds about what Professor Tufte says about pie charts :-D, which, by the way is not to use them as there are better ways to present data. "The only thing worse than one pie chart is more pie charts".
All in all, as someone who's not from a design or art background and with a bit of a background in maths I thoroughly enjoyed this book, its principles, insights, and suggestions, and though it may not be everyone's cup of tea I would readily suggest it to anyone who has more than a passing interest in graphics especially if they're presenting quantitative data. The principles are logical and intuitive, and I really do think that the presentation of graphics should (like anything) be taught well (eschew the decorations/ducks!)
This book is invaluable and has awakened my thirst for more knowledge.
I'm looking forward to reading more!
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Reviews with images
Book is great (Amazon service and the physical book corner is damaged...not the author's fault)
As expected, this book (content) is great. Took one star off due to poor Amazon services: we cannot communicate with Amazon about if they would or could provide a replacement which is NOT damaged. the only choice is to take the risk and buy another book in order to compare the two same books to decide which one is in good condition. Since we pay full price for new hardcopy, we expect the book to be in new and good condition. As you can see the picture, it is not. Again it is not the author's fault. We don't want to return it just in case the book is sold out. We would like to exchange it but there is no way to communicate with Amazon (does Amazon care?) to see if there is a brand new book available that is not damaged. Sadly we are keeping this book
Top reviews from other countries
Amazon Kunde
Quick and correct. Happy with the book.
Reviewed in Germany on January 27, 2020Walter
Imperdivel para quem tem de apresentar dados
Reviewed in Brazil on January 9, 2018