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ipanzica's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful book that shows and analyzes infographics from all over the world and throughout different time periods.
jimmacsyr's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent book. Great examples of condensing information
djflippy's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best books on the subject, from the best practitioner in the field.
luisvilla's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Tufte, to me, is aspirational, or perhaps… taste-making? I’m not a designer and will never be, but I like to think that taking in Tufte from time to time makes me a more discerning consumer of the data arts, and hopefully at least somewhat more careful about what I put out into the world.
mkinne's review against another edition
5.0
I've read this before, probably in the late 90s, and used to have a copy. I don't know what happened to it or the other Tufte books I had, so I got them again & am re-reading them. Also, Ethan is majoring in Statistics & I think he might like this & the other Tufte books.
thomasindc's review against another edition
3.0
Another read for work. This is the third Tufte I've read and they certainly have diminishing returns. I found [b:The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd Ed.|17744|The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd Ed.|Edward R. Tufte|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560425455l/17744._SX50_.jpg|522245] dated, but worthwhile in its approach to data. Then [b:Beautiful Evidence|17743|Beautiful Evidence|Edward R. Tufte|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392420570l/17743._SX50_.jpg|19271] to be more of a coffee table book repeating some strong opinions from Tufte that have not survived their aging.
This is more of the same. Tufte loves complexity - in several of these books he cites archaic handmade train schedules. These are prettier to look at than to use, and they're not the prettiest things to look at to begin with. Tufte often talks about simplicity being essential, but then also repeats statements something like: "you can't treat your audience as if they're stupid, uncaring, or obtuse." It feels like he makes those statements to get away with overly complex graphics.
He highlights a projection of the Rockefeller Center surroundings by Constantine Anderson as a great joy of visualizing information, noting that it goes so far as to depict individual windows. What is the point of identifying individual windows on a map? There really isn't one. Tufte notes that Anderson spent 20 years on this map, and then it becomes clear that this is an art piece, not a utility.
I would be interested in seeing a modern version of these books, using modern examples and modern design language. These have been rather left in the past, and I can't imagine anything but the first book being useful to the practicing data scientist or designer. I think [b:Rastersysteme für die visuelle Gestaltung - Grid systems in Graphic Design|350962|Rastersysteme für die visuelle Gestaltung - Grid systems in Graphic Design|Josef Muller-Brockmann|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1173989527l/350962._SX50_.jpg|341206] is an excellent design reference for layout and much more practical, having read it over 10 years ago, anyway. Page 82 of the Tufte cites [b:Die neue Typografie|5785533|Die neue Typografie|Jan Tschichold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677797992l/5785533._SX50_.jpg|114711] which I haven't read, but the excerpt/graphic from that seems in the same design language as Muller's work and so is probably the most practical thing I took away.
This is more of the same. Tufte loves complexity - in several of these books he cites archaic handmade train schedules. These are prettier to look at than to use, and they're not the prettiest things to look at to begin with. Tufte often talks about simplicity being essential, but then also repeats statements something like: "you can't treat your audience as if they're stupid, uncaring, or obtuse." It feels like he makes those statements to get away with overly complex graphics.
He highlights a projection of the Rockefeller Center surroundings by Constantine Anderson as a great joy of visualizing information, noting that it goes so far as to depict individual windows. What is the point of identifying individual windows on a map? There really isn't one. Tufte notes that Anderson spent 20 years on this map, and then it becomes clear that this is an art piece, not a utility.
I would be interested in seeing a modern version of these books, using modern examples and modern design language. These have been rather left in the past, and I can't imagine anything but the first book being useful to the practicing data scientist or designer. I think [b:Rastersysteme für die visuelle Gestaltung - Grid systems in Graphic Design|350962|Rastersysteme für die visuelle Gestaltung - Grid systems in Graphic Design|Josef Muller-Brockmann|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1173989527l/350962._SX50_.jpg|341206] is an excellent design reference for layout and much more practical, having read it over 10 years ago, anyway. Page 82 of the Tufte cites [b:Die neue Typografie|5785533|Die neue Typografie|Jan Tschichold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1677797992l/5785533._SX50_.jpg|114711] which I haven't read, but the excerpt/graphic from that seems in the same design language as Muller's work and so is probably the most practical thing I took away.