Edward Tufte Shows Us How to Properly Share Data That Combines Text, Numbers, and Images

 

Beautiful Evidence – Edward Tufte (2006)

            Sometimes the book lords look down upon us lowly humans and grace us with tomes we would otherwise not read or know about.  Such was the day I found this amazing work by professor, author, and sculptor, Edward Tufte.  As one of my co-workers cleaned out her office, she stacked a bunch of books aside for anyone who wanted them.  I grabbed three that caught my eye, and immediately began devouring Edward Tufte’s masterpiece.

            The introduction to this work explains Tufte’s focus, the intersection of science and art, specifically as it relates to the dissemination or presentation of raw data.  One of the thoughts in his Introduction really hit home for me, “Making an evidence presentation is a moral act as well as an intellectual activity.”  This goes for the consumers of these presentations as well.  One must be ready, when faced with a presentation of evidence, to think and judge not only what data they discuss but also how they present it.  This analytical thinking is crucial to the proper dissemination of knowledge in our data-packed world.

            Tufte begins his exploration of this subject by focusing on what he calls “Mapped Pictures: Images as Evidence and Explanation.”  He, much like I do, deplores the out-of-context images used by periodicals when writing about scientific subjects. An example of a well-mapped image is the type used in visual catalogues of flora and fauna, where, for example, the fish in question is portrayed in both profile and overhead views, which provides much more data than a single image.  Those images may also contain data about the subject, such as the length of the fish, the coloring of the fish, the species’ Latin name, etc.  Many of these animal catalogues fail to provide much data, apart from the image of the animal itself.  This is a disservice, both to the scientists that catalogued the animals, and to the reader wishing to encounter useful and correct information about them.

            Tufte provides beautiful examples of many types of mapped picture, from images detailing which stars make up the constellations in the sky, to diagrams showing the horrendous conditions that Africans were placed into by their captors who sought to pack as many onto these ships as possible.  Such an image shows not only the extent of the horror, but specific details of the horror, allowing the reader to grasp a far bigger idea than just the image itself.

            The author analyzes other methods of information exchange.  From sparklines (a graphic showing a change in value over time, such as a line graph representing the temperature in a given city over a month) to word and arrow diagrams (such as a family tree, or an evolutionary line), each is discussed at length.  Mr. Tufte seeks to show the best possible ways to convey information, keeping in mind each method’s weaknesses and strengths.

            In the chapter on the confluence of words, numbers, and images, Tufte’s first example is from the genius of Leonardo da Vinci.  In his countless notebooks, where he wrote and drew about his constant explorations, vivid drawings live right next to explanatory text and data in number form.   The ability to combine all three into a work so profound shows the reasoning and ability of da Vinci’s deep skill.  As Tufte proclaims, it is a shame that more scientists have not taken up the model provided by Leonardo.

            Another aspect of publishing that upsets Tufte, for it derails the hard work of the scientists, is what happens when publishers create new editions of classic books.  For some reason, the editors feel they need to re-arrange the layouts of the books, shifting all the text into one section, and placing the images in another.  When the purpose of the book is to educate, using words and images concurrently, such as in Galileo’s “Siderius Nuncius” (The Starry Messenger), too many publishers fail to see the importance of both text and images living side by side.  Moving images to an appendix reduces the capability of the reader to grasp what the author intends.  The worst example of this is in the editions of Isaac Newton’s “Opticks.”  Tufte shows how, from the initial pressing in London, the pertinent images were placed in a separate section from the text they belong to.  It was not until the first German edition (1898) that the images and text were fully integrated.  In 1952, the first proper printing in English occurred.  Sadly soon after four more badly edited editions would see the light of day.  As Tufte states, it is a shame that “…it took 258 years to combine word and image in the original English.”

            The latter half of this book explores the fundamental principles of analytical design, and provides some amazing examples of quality work.  The best part of the second half of the book is where Edward Tufte patiently explains the many ways that data is corrupted in evidence presentations, with the most vitriol aimed at the ubiquitous and hated Power Point software.  The damage that PP has done to professional information exchange is hard to calculate, but Mr. Tufte does a great job of explaining it.  The saddest fact I read was how, when the space shuttle Columbia accident occurred, an independent body analyzed NASA’s information exchanges, focusing on how warnings about the shuttle were ignored or avoided altogether.  The analysis showed that nearly 90% of all data shared at NASA was in the form of PP slides.  HORRENDOUS.  Tufte explains how these slides, containing minimal information, and allowing for minimal understanding, corrupt the very processes intended to inform and educate, leading to tragic errors and human suffering.

            As it should be, this book is a beautiful production.  Edward Tufte uses all of his skills and knowledge to construct a perfect blending of image, numbers, and text.  He sets a great example for anyone writing in the sciences, and anyone seeking to share information properly.  For a visually oriented person book lover like myself, this was an amazing discovery.  The book angels were looking out.  I highly recommend this book and hope it influences many to think deeper about how to portray their data, and how to engage the mind of the reader.

(This book can be purchased from the Author here: https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_be )

Sometimes the idea for a book is better than the finished product

Phantasmagoria: Spirit Visions, Metaphors, and Media into the Twenty-First Century – Marina Warner (2008)

            As an artist, I have always been interested in the way we humans perceive the world around us.  Most people take it for granted that what they see, hear, touch, etc. is corporeally real.  They assume that our brains are just receptacles, containers for the input our senses provide.  This is a very limited view of our minds.  Every single one of us is living in a world that exists solely in our minds, filtered by our personal experiences, beliefs, and prejudices.  Where some people see images in clouds, others never bother to look at all.  Our human culture, literature, and especially religion, has been reading into the visions of the mind since before we have record of it.  Marina Warner explores the many different ways that humans have tried to visualize the ephemeral.

            One thing that Ms. Warner does so well is to combine what appears to be a shit-ton of research and information into a concise accounting.  Each chapter describes human’s explorations into the meaning of ephemeral visions, such as clouds, shadows, fata morgana, mirror images, etc., from ancient times to the modern day.   This makes the book a very valuable resource from which to find other material that further explores the topics at hand.

            There is one big problem though.  I read such books to encounter new analysis and new insights into these subjects, as I am already well-versed with all these topics through my own personal research and reading.  This book does not have such analysis or thought.  After a few chapters it begins to read like a thesis by a graduate student, one that contains too many examples and too little substance.  Too many examples are cited with no context, just to pad out some of the thin chapters.  That is a shame.  I think a wonderful book could be written using this material, if it was more carefully edited and if it included more original insight.

(This book can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Phantasmagoria-Visions-Metaphors-Twenty-first-Century/dp/0199299943 )

Maybe Mr. Campbell was running out of steam? Or, maybe I just do not care enough.

Masks of God: Creative Mythology – Joseph Campbell (1968)

            Mr. Joseph Campbell, having explored the origin of Human Myth, its development into codified rules for tribal group living, and then its growth into state religions and universal world religions, now analyzes the creation of the most enduring myth of the last 500 years.  That myth is the idea that Love, romantic Love, can and does allow for communion with the divine in all things, and that it happens purely on the individual level, without the involvement of religion’s rules or the meddling of a priestly class.

            As one can imagine, this idea was very dangerous to the status quo religions acting as if they were the supreme arbiters of what was divine and who should rule on Earth.  Without their claim that they (religions) are the only source of divinity and the only way to petition the divine, organized religion stood to die a quick death, for very little in religious experience actually moved a worshiper in the manner that Love can affect an individual’s mind and “soul.”  This new idea was slowly absorbed by religions of the world to the point where many Christians these days speak only of God as Love, without the endless minutia of dogma that plagued early Christian and Catholic churches.

            Mr. Campbell strives to show the evolution of this idea, first through the troubadours of the early 1100’s-1200’s, and then to the Romances of the Arthurian legends, Dante’s writings, and eventually through the dream-world of Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake.  Because this Love development was essentially cataloged in song and literature, as opposed to history or scripture, this final volume in the Masks of God series was very hard for me to read through.  I just could care less about the source materials for Mr. Campbell’s explorations into Love.  I have a short attention span when it comes to romantic literature and the poetic words of people rambling on and on about Love.  

Some clowns never feel Love

 

            While this volume did not engross me as the previous three did, I still was glad to have read it, and I am sure that the ideas contained within will resonate with me as I continue on my journey.  I think that this new myth of the all-encompassing power of Love is a good myth, because Love is indeed universal, even though many societies and cultures work hard to prevent romantic love from flourishing.  Love allows people to connect with each other, to step out of themselves and see the world through different eyes.  It helps soothe the pain of tragedy and soften the anger that rises up in us humans.  It also resists codification into specific rules.  Love is different for everyone, and therein lies its greatness.

(This book can be purchased here:  AMAZON  )

The Symbols are all around us!

Secret Symbolism in Occult Art – Fred Gettings (1987)

The Hidden world calls yet again.  The word “Occult” means different things to different people.  To some, it describes only the knowledge that is “against god” in some manner.  To others, it describes the hidden world that is all around us, and of which we are all a part, but that remains mostly hidden, except for insights gleamed by mystics, shamans, sensitives, and other spiritually enlightened people.  One thing that is most certain, is that “occult” does not mean “forgotten.”  The ideas explored in the world of Occult knowledge are impregnated throughout our human world, and the symbols of those ideas can be found anywhere from a fishing village in Greece to the mightiest and most grandiose cathedrals of Roman Catholicism. 

The title of this book is a bit misleading, as all occult things are by nature secret, and the only way to describe any experiences of the world hidden from daily life is to use metaphor and symbol, for normal language does not have the capability to convey what these mystics experience.  People who believe in the occult-ed world feel that there exist many other planes of existence, apart from the material plane we find ourselves living in, and that our souls, composed of a different type of energy/matter, move on to a different plane of existence when our physical body dies.  Because we are all connected by virtue of our co-existence in the Universe, we can explore these separate realms through meditation, drugs, ritual, trance, and psychic abilities.

While all of that may sound like pure jibber-jabber, the influence of this type of thought is pervasive throughout our human culture.  The symbols of the Occult have been used and understood for thousands of years, and now are found in so many places that no one questions where they come from.  For example, in much of the Christian religious iconography, the saints and venerated folk are depicted with glowing halos of energy.  Christians claim this is a sign of their holiness.  However, the symbolic halo was originally used thousands of years earlier, by many different people to denote someone who had crossed over to the Aetheric plane from the material plane.  It is easy to see how this would relate to portraying someone who had a one-on-one encounter with god.

Another example is the portrayal of the Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ enclosed within a Vesica Piscis, which is a deeply rooted Occult symbol, both symbolizing the female, creative, life-giving impulse of the Universe, and the connection between the material world and the Aetheric.  The female symbolism is obvious, as the Vesica Piscis is symbolic of a vagina, of the eternal Feminine, and it makes sense to use the symbol to enclose the so-called Mother of God.  

"Let me save the little man from inside the boat" - Phife Dawg

The use of the Vesica Piscis for portrayals of Jesus Christ, however, have nothing to do with the feminine, and everything to do with the idea that Jesus dies, dwelt in the “Aetheric” realm (described as Hell in the Bible), and returned to Earth with a new awareness.  Because of this he is an enlightened one, worthy of being represented as one with greater knowledge and experience than the normal human.

He saw things we cannot imagine...

Part of my interest in symbols lies in their multiplicity of meaning.  A symbol can and does mean different things to different audiences.  They hold their power whether or not the viewer understands the symbol, but to someone who is versed in the lore of symbols and their meanings, seeing them opens up new pathways of understanding, new ways to approach a subject, and new forms of enlightenment.  To an average Christian, an upside down cross is a symbol of warped Christianity, of Satanism, of everything evil.  However, many Orthodox Christians see an upside down cross as a symbol of the piety of St. Peter, who chose to be crucified upside down in respect of his teacher Jesus having been crucified right-side up.  Context is everything, even in Occult matters.

(This book can be read online as a .pdf here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/36983769/Fred-Gettings-Secret-Symbolism-in-Occult-Art#scribd )

(This book can be purchased here:  AMAZON  )

I give thanks to all the Myths for Joseph Campbell

The Mythic Image – Joseph Campbell (1974)

            Joseph Campbell is one of the seminal figures in comparative mythology and the study of human belief systems.  He helped create the field and wrote some of the most engaging and readable books about these topics.  In The Mythic Image, Joseph Campbell draws upon his life of learning to explore the commonalities and sources of over 5,000 years of mythology.

            This book is so dense, so full of ideas and thought-provoking insights, that it is impossible to summarize.  Mr. Campbell tackles all the major themes of human myth and explores the relationships which organized religion’s theologians carefully avoid mentioning.  Myth is a human construct created to help us make sense of the world around us, because so much of it is mysterious and seemingly far from the scope of our daily human lives.

            The great thing about this book is that it focuses on images and their meanings.  The book is full of great illustrations which help the reader to understand the themes explored.  Amazing stuff.  The visual image as a guide to myth is far older than the written word.  Symbols of all types are explained with great care, and this information allowed me to tie up many loose ends that float around in my brain.

So many things floating in my brain...

            Mythology arises through shared experience.  We are all born, live, and then we die.  Out myths and symbols help guide us through life to our resting place in death.  These can be very important things, but they tend to be overlooked in our current consumerist society.  Joseph Campbell is a great teacher and never hesitates to include seeming opposites, for they all come from the human experience.  This is a great book!

Sometimes the Insights are banal

Insights of Genius: Imagery and Creativity in Science and Art – Arthur I. Miller (2000)

            Arthur Miller is a novelist and a playwright.  In this book, he manages to explore the topic of creativity in science as it relates to the visual creativity in artworks.  Both scientists and artists use visual representations to help them gain insights into their respective explorations.

            Exploring how the sciences create their ideas, and how they interrelate to the visual media of the artist is now a new idea.  The cool thing is that Arthur Miller shows how the visual idea precedes the hard science.  Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but looking back at art history as it relates to scientific history, it can seem that somehow artists create new visual forms which predate the changes in scientific theory, like some sort of early-warning system.

When I drew this, I had an early-warning of an impending diarrhea.

            I wish this book was more interesting than it turned out to be.  I was left bored and restless as I read this book.  I love science and art equally and already had come to the conclusions reached in this book.  Oh well, they can’t all be winners!