A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication by Michael Friendly

Author:Michael Friendly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harvard University Press

As we discussed in Chapters 3 and 4, one critical development that launched the invention of the basic forms of statistical graphics in the early part of the nineteenth century was widespread collection of data on social problems (crime, suicide, poverty) and disease outbreaks (cholera). In a number of key cases, graphical methods proved their utility, sometimes suggesting explanations or solutions. A second general group of advances that enabled the Golden Age concerned technology, for (a) reproducing and publishing data graphics using color, (b) recording raw data for more than one variable at a time, and (c) tabulating or calculating some summaries that could then be displayed in graphs. A few of these are illustrated in Figure 7.2.

In the period leading up to the Golden Age, thematic maps and diagrams had been printed by copperplate engraving. With this technique, an image is incised on a soft copper sheet, then inked and printed. In the hands of master engravers and printers, copperplate technology could easily accommodate fine lines, small lettering, stippled textures, and so forth. The works of Albrecht Dürer and other engravers attest to how hand-drawn artwork could be transformed into something that captured the artist’s intent, with fine lines and texture, and then be printed in many copies. Early data graphic works in this period featured both the author and the engraver in captions or legends, because both had contributed to the final product.

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