Weblog #5: March 1, 2005

      Trying to ignore the $45 that Visual Explanations cost, the book is a fascinating exploration of the ways in which information can be most effectively presented in a visual format. Not only is this a book with an eclectic array of pictures, documents, cartoons, charts, etc., it is also a book chock full of ideas and concepts. Websites are only the latest manifestation of design principles that have existed for centuries.The most compelling chapter for me was the one dealing with the contrast between the graphic depiction of the cholera epidemic in London and the depiction of the potential for malfunction of the Challenger space shuttle. How remarkable that "John Snow got it all exactly right," (33) in 1854 while the Thiokol engineers were only able to create "unconvincing" charts to the NASA decision-makers 132 years later. "The charts were unconvincing; the arguments against the launch failed; the Challenger blew up." (40)
     Perhaps it is understandable that a book about visual design is less than chrystal clear in its narrative but I found some of the text in which Tufte tries to explain his illustrations so densely incomprehensible that even repeated readings failed to achieve any kind of clarity. For example, in his chapter on "Multiples" the discussion on the "geometric constructions of the letter A" (112) failed to explain to me either the illustration or its significance. There is also a certain arrogance in his presentation that detracts from the narrative. His reference to "airhead" announcers (145), "dopey" approaches (148), and "distinctly clunky" typography seem out of place in a book by a Professor Emeritus at Yale.