Chapter 7

The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics

Synopsis

In the latter half of the 19th Century, enthusiasm for graphical methods matured, and a variety of developments in statistics, data collection and technology combined to produce a “perfect storm” for data graphics. The result was a qualitatively distinct period that produced works of unparalleled beauty and scope, the likes of which would be hard to duplicate today. We argue that this period deserves to be recognized as the “Golden Age of Statistical Graphics.”

Chapter contents

• Ages in the History of Graphics
• Some Golden Ages
• Prerequisites for the Golden Age
  • Lithography and Color Printing
    
  • Automatic Recording
    
  • Calculation
• The Graphic Vision of Charles Joseph Minard
• Francis Galton’s Greatest Graphical Discovery
• Statistical Albums
  • The Album de Statistique Graphique
  • US Census Albums
• The Modern Dark Ages

Selected Figures

Figure 7.1: Milestones timeline The time distribution of events considered milestones in the history of data visualization, shown by a rug plot and a density estimate. The data consist of n = 260 significant events from 1500 to the present (Friendly, 2005). The developments in the highlighted period, from roughly 1840 to 1910, comprise the subject of this chapter. Source: Reformatted from Michael Friendly, “The Golden Age of Statistical Graphics,” Statistical Science, 23:4 (2008), pp. 502–535, fig. 1. Rcode: 07_1-mileyears3.R

Figure 7.2: Some technological advances leading to the Golden Age Left: automatic recording: the Watt Indicator, James Watt (1822); middle: calculating devices, Babbage (1822/1833); right: photography: motion: Muybridge (1879). Source: (left) National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian Institution; (middle) Britannica.com; (right) Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-23778, detail.

Figure 7.3: Nomograms A computational diagram combining diverse graphic forms. This tour-de force nomogram by Charles Lallemand (1885) uses anamorphic maps, parallel coordinates, and 3D surfaces to calculate magnetic deviation at sea. Source: Reproduction courtesy of École des Mines.

Figure 7.4: Engineering diagram Why did the bridge collapse? Across-sectional diagram showing one of the bridge supports, providing a before-after comparison. Source: Detail from Charles Joseph Minard, De la chute des ponts dans les grandes crues. Paris: E Thunot et Cie, 1856. Reproduction © École nationale des ponts et chausées, 4_4921_C282.

Figure 7.5: Comparative flow maps Effect of the US Civil War on trade in cotton. The import of raw cotton to Europe from various sources to destination is shown by colored flow bands of width proportional to the amount of cotton before (left: 1858) and after (right: 1862) the US Civil War. Source: Charles Joseph Minard, “Carte figurative et approximative des quantités de coton en Europe en 1858 et 1862,” Paris, 1863. Reproduction © École nationale des ponts et chausées, 4Fol 10975.

Figure 7.6: Minard’s greatest work Minard’s 1869 Carte figurative depicting the fate of Napoleon’s Grand Army in the disastrous 1812 campaign to capture Moscow. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Figure 7.7: Galton’s data collection form Top portion of the form Galton sent to observers to record weather variables throughout the month of December 1861. Noteworthy is Galton’s attempt to define the conditions of the observations and to standardize the scales on which each of the seven weather variables were to be recorded. Source: Francis Galton, Meteorographica, or Methods of Mapping the Weather. London: Macmillan, 1863.

Figure 7.8: Iconic 3D barometric maps, bipolar scale Galton’s barometric maps for December 8, 1861. Gray and black symbols represent, respectively, lower and higher barometric pressure than average, with degrees of divergence ranging from <U+20DD> through <U+2A00>, and <U+273B> to <U+25CF>. Source: Francis Galton, Meteographica, or Methods of Mapping the Weather. London: Macmillan, 1863.

Figure 7.9: Two-way star / radar diagrams “Comparison of the numbers attending the Expositions of 1867, 1878 and 1889” (Exposition Universelle de 1889: Comparaison du Nombre des Entrées aux Expositions de 1867, 1878 et 1889). In each star-shaped figure the length of the radial dimension shows the number of paid entrants on each day of the month. Source: Caisse nationale des retraites pour la vieillesse. Album de Statistique Graphique. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1889, Plate 21.

Figure 7.10: Polar / area diagrams on a map “Gross receipts of theaters in Paris from 1878 to 1889” (Exposition Universelle de 1889: Recettes brutes des théatres et spectacles de Paris 1878 à 1889). Each diagram uses sectors of length proportional to the receipts at a given theater in each year from 1878 to 1889, highlighting the values for the years of the Universal Expositions in a lighter shade. Source: Caisse nationale des retraites pour la vieillesse. Album de Statistique Graphique. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1889, Plate 26.

Figure 7.11: Anamorphic map “Acceleration of travel in France over 200 years” (Accélération des voyages en France depuis 200 Ans). A set of five Paris-centric maps scaled along radial directions to major cities to show the relative decrease in travel time from 1789 to 1887. Source: Caisse nationale des retraites pour la vieillesse. Album de Statistique Graphique. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1888, Plate 8a.

Figure 7.12: Planetary diagram “Transportation of principal merchandise in France in four-year periods” (Mouvement des principales marchandises en France, par période quatriennale). Left: combustible minerals, for example, coal, coke; right: construction materials. The length of rays indicate average distance; circle diameters represent tonnage moved. Source: Caisse nationale des retraites pour la vieillesse. Album de Statistique Graphique. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1897, Plate 9.

Figure 7.13: Bilateral histograms “Chart Showing the Distribution of Deaths… by Sex and Month of Death and according to Race and Nationality.” Left: detail from causes of death; right: full plate, with labels for the three sections added. Source: United States Census Office, Statistical Atlas of the United States Based on the Results of the Ninth Census 1870. New York: Julius Bien, 1874, Plate 44.

Plate P.7: Pie map of Paris transport Bottom portion of Plate 17 from the Album de Statistique Graphique of 1885, showing transport of goods to the ports of Paris and the principal maritime ports in 1883. The sectors of the circle-diagrams show the composition by type and area shows the total tonnage. Source: Ministère des Travaux Publics, Album de Statistique Graphique de 1885. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1885, Plate 17.

Plate P.11: Multivariate glyph map Galton’s glyph map of wind, cloud cover and rain on the evening of December 7, 1861. The U-shaped icons open toward the direction of the wind and are filled in relation to its strength; a circle indicates calm. Stippled and hatched backgrounds range from clear through degrees of cloud to snow and rain. Source: Francis Galton, Meteorographica, or Methods of Mapping the Weather. London: Macmillan, 1863.

Plate P.12: Multivariate schematic mini-maps Francis Galton, “Charts of the Thermometer, Wind, Rain and Barometer on the Morning, Afternoon and Evening on Each Day during December 1861.” Each daily panel is a 3x3 display of the combinations of barometric pressure, wind and rain and temperature by morning, noon and afternoon. Source: Francis Galton, Meteorographica, or Methods of Mapping the Weather. London: Macmillan, 1863.

Plate P.13: Multivariate schematic mini-maps Legend: Top: Legend in the bottom right of Plate 12, showing the use of color, shape, texture, and other visual attributes to portray quantitative variables. Bottom: Detail for December 5, from the top left corner. Source: Francis Galton, Meteorographica, or Methods of Mapping the Weath- er. London: Macmillan, 1863.

Plate P.14: Mosaics/treemaps Francis Walker, Chart showing the principal constituents of each state (1874). Bottom left: detail for Missouri showing the subdivisions by race and origin; above: full plate, with annotated labels added. Source: United States Census Office, Statistical Atlas of the United States Based on the Results of the Ninth Census 1870. New York: Julius Bien, 1874, Plate 20. (Annotations added by authors.)