Data Points: Visualization That Means Something

A fresh look at visualization from the author of Visualize This Whether it's statistical charts, geographic maps, or the snappy graphical statistics you see on your favorite news sites, the art of data graphics or visualization is fast becoming a movement of its own. In Data Points: Visualization That Means Something, author Nathan Yau presents an intriguing complement to his bestseller Visualize This, this time focusing on the graphics side of data analysis. Using examples from art, design, business, statistics, cartography, and online media, he explores both standard-and not so standard-concepts and ideas about illustrating data. Intriguing ideas from Nathan Yau, author of Visualize This and creator of flowingdata.com, with over 66,000 subscribers Focuses on visualization, data graphics that help viewers see trends and patterns they might not otherwise see in a table Includes examples from the author's own illustrations, as well as from professionals in statistics, art, design, business, computer science, cartography, and more Examines standard rules across all visualization applications, then explores when and where you can break those rules Create visualizations that register at all levels, with Data Points: Visualization That Means Something . 'A detailed handbook, Data Points is espe-cially useful for those working on scientific data visualization, guiding the reader through fascinat-ing examples of data, graph-ics, context, presentation and analytics. But this is more than a mere how-to manual. Yau reminds us that the real purpose of most visualiza-tion work is to communicate data to pragmatic ends.' (Nature, May 2013)Introduction xi 1 Understanding Data 1 2 Visualization: The Medium 43 3 Representing Data 91 4 Exploring Data Visually 135 5 Visualizing with Clarity 201 6 Designing for an Audience 241 7 Where to Go from Here 277 Index 291