THE GOLDEN AGE OF DATA VISUALIZATION

We are living in the Golden Age of Data Visualization The COVID 19 pandemic has demonstrated how we increasingly use data visualizations to make sense of the world Business analysts fill their presentations with charts journalists use infographics to engage their readers we rely on the dials and gauges on our household appliances and we use mapping apps on our smartphones to find our way This book explains how and why this has happened It details the evolution of information graphics the kinds of graphics at the core of data visualization maps diagrams charts scientific and medical images from prehistory to the present day It explains how the cultural context production and presentation technologies and data availability have shaped the history of data visualization It considers the perceptual and cognitive reasons why data visualization is so effective and explores the little known world of tactile graphics raised line drawings used by people who are blind The book also investigates the way visualization has shaped our modern world The European Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution relied on maps and technical and scientific drawings and graphics influence how we think about abstract concepts like time and social connection This book is written