The Visionaries Who Painted Data with Pictures: Pioneers of the Data Visualization Revolution
Data visualization has become an integral part of how we understand and communicate complex information in today's data-driven world. But the origins of this powerful tool can be traced back centuries to a few pioneering minds who recognized the value of using visual representations to make sense of data. Let's take at some of these men and women who paved the way for modern data visualization.
Charles Joseph Minard
Charles Joseph Minard (1781 - 1870) was a very recognized French civil engineer who also play an important role in the field of data visualizations, and one of his most well-known works was the map of Napoleon's 1812 March. This map represents the path follow by Napoleon's army to invade Russia.
What makes this visualization really outstanding, in Edward Tufte's words "the best statistical drawing ever created", is the amount of information represented in a single visualization. In the map created by Minard, the thickest line represents the amount of soldiers moving towards Moscow. During the journey, the lack of food and weather conditions caused that many of the men that belong to Napoleon's army died. The number of remaining troops is displayed around that line. Once they reach Moscow, the troops have been reduced to one fourth of the original number, this in addition to the fact that weather conditions would get worse were the reasons why Napoleon decided to give up and retreat.
The black line shows the path taken during their way back to France, the numbers around this line represent the total of soldiers that have survived at each point in time and location, below the map there is a chart that represents the temperatures recorded during that time. At the end only 10,000 men achieved to get back home which was only the 2.4% of the original total.
The black line shows the path taken during their way back to France, the numbers around this line represent the total of soldiers that have survived at each point in time and location, below the map there is a chart that represents the temperatures recorded during that time. At the end only 10,000 men achieved to get back home which was only the 2.4% of the original total.
John Snow
John Snow(1813 - 1858), was an English physician considered the father of epidemiology. At the age of eighteen (during his fourth year as apprentice) an epidemic of cholera struck London. One year later the epidemic suddenly stopped, but it's said that 50,000 people died during that outbreak. At that time most physicians believed that cholera was caused by poisoned gasses produced by rotting organic matter, but Snow thought that there were other reasons behind the spread of cholera. During 1848, another cholera outbreak struck London, but this time Snow decided to track the progress of the disease to determine the exact cause. Based on the data collected, he elaborate the theory that these type of diseases were transmitted from one person to another via fluids that patients expelled (such as diarrhea). Later on he determined that the water supply in the area had been contaminated and it was the source of the outbreak. Snow used a map to track the cases of cholera, and also it helped him to illustrate relation of the cases with the contaminated water pump. Snow's study was considered one of the biggest contributions to public health.
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale(1820 - 1910) was not only the founder of modern nursing, but also an statistician. She was a member of the Royal Statistical Society and an honorary member of the American Statistical Association. Maybe her most famous visualization is the following one that shows the mortality rate by month during the times of Crimea War. It is similar to a pie chart, but it uses length instead width of the slice to represent amounts. The chart is divided in twelve sections or slices that represent each month of year. In addition, each section contains areas with different colors that indicates the cause of death.
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (1733 - 1804) was a English theologian, philosopher, chemist, educator and statistian. Even though is famous because he's credited with the discovery of the oxygen, he also made an important contribution in the data visualization area, he created the first chart to represent information across time, called "A Specimen of a Chart of Biography". This visualization represents the lifelines of 2,000 famous persons.
William Playfair
William Playfair (1759 - 1823) was a Scottish engineer, economist and also the founder of data visualizations. In 1785 he published The Commercial and Political Atlas; Representing by Means of Stained Copper-Plate Charts, the Exports, Imports, and a General Trade of England, at a Single View which contained line and bar charts invented by Playfair himself inspired by the work of Joseph Priestley.
