Visual Insights: A Practical Guide to Making Sense of Data
In the world of visualization and information graphics, the bibliography about thematic maps and statistical graphs is becoming abundant, little by little. However, studies of how to design network diagrams and conceptual maps are rare, and usually available only through scientific publications. Katy Börner and David Polley's book is the first serious attempt at offering a theoretical and practical introduction to this discipline, aimed not just at specialists, but at any reader, regardless of her or his background. I foresee that it'll become the textbook of choice for many instructors.(Alberto Cairo, Professor of the Professional Practice at the School of Communication of the University of Miami and author ofThe Functional Art: an Introduction to InformationGraphics and Visualization)A good visualization is never done easy-peasy; good visualization is a science, a craft, and an art at once. If you want to become a visual data explorer and learn to produce meaningful visualizations, this book is a good guide for such a journey. It is a must-read for students at iSchools and those in the Digital Humanities, and a recommendation for inhabitants of the various interdisciplinary valleys in the science landscape.(Andrea Scharnhorst, Head of Research at Data Archiving and Networked Services and member of the e-humanities group at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam, Netherlands)In this age of knowledge abundance, policymakers and the public need to quickly understand complex information, and this book takes a giant leap forward in this arena. The knowledge system has become a global enterprise, and it is one that involves collaboration and interdisciplinary linkages. These trans-boundary links require new metrics and the use of new methods of examination and explanation. Katy Börner and David Polley's book creates a map into the new knowledge terrain that we will all be transiting soon.(Caroline S. Wagner, Milton and Roslyn Wolf Chair in International Affairs; Director,Battelle Center for Science & Technology Policy, John Glenn School of Public Affairs, OhioState University)Following in the footsteps of the richly illustrated and highly informative bookThe Atlas of Science: Visualizing What We Know, Professor Katy Börner and David Polley's new bookVisual Insights: A Practical Guide to Making Sense of Databrings theory and practice in seven manageable chapters to both new initiate and engaged user, giving an insightful overview of the field, and making accessible the methods and techniques to empower the reader to become a visualization practitioner.(George Legrady, Director of the Experimental Visualization Lab and Chair of the Media Arts & Technology doctoral program at the University of California, Santa Barbara)