Information is Beautiful
Product Details | Similar Products | Customer Reviews | Author: David Mccandless List Price: £20.00 Our Price: £9.98 You Save: £10.02 (50%) Availability: Usually dispatched within 1 to 2 months  |
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 | Product Details: Hardcover 256 pages Release Date: 04 February 2010 Publisher: Collins ISBN: 0007294662 Rating:   Sales Rank: 441 | | Look for similar books by subject: | | Customers who bought this item also bought:
| | Customer Reviews: Great collection of data visualizations (04 August 2010)Information is Beautiful is a great book. The vast array of visualisation techniques is mind blowing, from the simple, yet wonderfully created pie chart to a number of techniques (e.g. semantic polar grids) that I had never encountered before (and I have a PhD in ecological statistics). I would recommend this to anyone interested in data visualisation / infographics who wants inspiration or wants a nice looking book that would not be out of place on any self-confessed geeks coffee table. The fact that the book is now on its third reprint, shows how immensely popular it has been. This has also allowed for the correction of the original printing errors (publishers fault). If however you do have an early copy you can still download the correct pages direct from David's website "Information is Beautiful". A website that is constructed with the same amount of care and attention that is shown in this text and should be immediately addded to your RSS subscriptions. Now that this text is under £10 makes this an instant purchase for any intersted party or even as a gift item. Enjoy being immersed in the beautiful display of normally impenetrable data. Fantastic concept badly executed (04 August 2010)As well as the widely mentioned "pages 60-65" containing no image labelling there are a number of other omissions scattered throughout the book. Don't look too closely or you may find yourself looking for the errors rather than enjoying the book! As the book is printed on matt paper there is no lift in the imagery, and the poor colour selection on both copy and background does not lend itself well to be particular easy to read. As you may expect in a book written in the U.S., there is an obvious lean towards North American culture, facts and figures etc., meaning some of the content may be a little erroneous. However, This is a fantastic concept showing how powerful imagery can become when used in the correct way. Unfortunately, it isn't quite there. Perhaps a further version with updated facts and figures will be published. Taking comments from this edition on board, the publisher is in a great position to produce something quite memorable. Something for everyone (26 July 2010)David McCandless is the "son" of E. Tufte! This book has 2 dimensions. Firstly, it is a very good text book of how to depict data in an interesting and informative manner. This is an excellent example of the ergonomics of data representation. A lot of academics could learn from this. Secondly, it depicts some very interesting data. McCandles has an focus in Environmental issues and wider ranging philosophical issues. For example, the plot of world religions vs "stuff people do". The only down side is that some of the sources are bit limp (e.g. "Google") and some of his terms are a little less precise than they should (e.g. Taste buds - misallocation of foods to groups), but this should not eclipse the brilliance of the book. Great flicker througher (24 July 2010)Whilst I can't vouch for the data content accuracy, I didn't buy it because it was a definitive authority. Instead I flicked through it in the shop, found it interesting-no matter which random page I turned to. I've just read it this afternoon, ok, looked at the pictures contemplatively :). It is a book for creating conversation if you are having an evening drink with friends. Graphically, extremely well put together and engaging. In the process, introduced me to a variety of visual info representations I didn't know existed. How accurate is the data? Without going and doing my own painstaking research I couldn't tell you. Note, there's a great double page on Left/Right politics that any teacher wishing to discuss this with students might want to get their hands on. Very nicely done. Subjects range from the light (dance genres anyone?), oddball (viral campaigns since the 90's) to the serious (alliances map, global warming, CO2, health). Side trip: For other people looking at this, Edward Tufte-both credited and referenced here is well worth looking at. He rails against Powerpoint cognition in one book, and I believe him to be correct. Striking designs, interesting info (12 July 2010)I'm in the USA, but I ordered the UK version because it is the original, and because the title is so much better than "The Visual Miscellaneum". This is a lovely book to look at, with statistics to boggle the mind and move the heart. It's a great thing to pick up now and again, flip to a random page and be simultaneously awed by its creativity and wowed by the information. It deserves a place alongside Tufte's seminal "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information" (a prosaic title to place alongside "The Visual Miscellaneum") on any information designer's bookshelf. | |
