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Subject:envisioning information From:Al Rubottom <alrub -at- INETWORLD -dot- NET> Date:Sun, 29 Dec 1996 23:02:48 -0800
At the risk of offing topic:
I just got, am enjoying hugely *and* learning enormously
from the second Edward R. Tufte graphics book,
Envisioning Information. In the spirit of sharing one's joys,,,
This is indubitably The Best book available on design and display
of information in graphical form. His first such book, the classic
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, was a mind-blower
and boundary-breaker in the best senses of those idioms.
This newer one [copyright 1990 actually, but I never owned a copy
before, and so had only a superficial, shallow awareness of its riches]
is so good it ought to be required reading for every (technical) writer,
graphic designer, illustrator, and engineer/scientist/researcher.
If you care about how to effectively show in graphical form the
relationships between bits of information, you cannot do better
than to read and study this book.
from the preface:
The world is complex, dynamic, multidimensional. The paper
is static, flat. How are we to represent the rich visual world of
experience and measurement on mere flatland? . . .
The principles of information design are universal -- like
mathematics -- and are not tied to unique features of a
particular language.
You can order it direct from
Graphics Press,
P.O. Box 430
Cheshire, CT 06410
24-hr fax: 202.272.8600
$48 postpaid [moneyback guarantee!]
Also available from any good bookstore, I believe.
My favorite technical bookstore:
San Diego Technical Books http://www.sdtb.com
e-mail: sdtb -at- sdtb -dot- com [inquiries & orders]
800.346.0071
vox: 619.279.4990
fax: 619.279.5088
You get excellent service, huge selection from inventory
actually in stock [unlike hyped claims by such as Amazon],
and the satisfaction of supporting an independent bookseller,
soon to be an extinct species eradicated by chains with no clue
and no care.
May your ideas be clearer and brighter in '97.
Al Rubottom /\ alrub -at- inetworld -dot- net
tel: 619.292.9998 /\ fax: 619.541.2260
