This is such an excellent book. Just a couple days after finishing Beautiful Evidence, I decided to invoke my alumni privileges at Emory’s Woodruff Library so I could get my hands on his earlier books. I’m in the midst of Envisioning Information right now, and it’s looking to be just as good.
Edward Tufte has crafted a reputation as something of a guru of analytic design and information display. His latest work, Beautiful Evidence is about the act of visual communication in all its forms–using image, word, number, line, or otherwise. He’s talking about the transformation of observation to presentation, “how seeing turns into showing”. This comes out in chapters dedicated to mapped images; links, arrows & causation; corrupted evidence; and more, all calling on case studies from modern science back to ye olden days.
The book itself sets a good model for what it discusses, as a beautifully printed book with thoughtful, purposeful design. Add in some lovely colors and inks on some really nice paper. I liked seeing the “footnotes” placed in the left and right margins vertically parallel with the corresponding phrase, so the commentary is but a glance away. And for the most part, each page represents a full argument. While it can make for some slightly terse writing, I have to admire the editorial restraint to not let the ideas run all over the pages.
I give petty demerits for a little bit of loose organization. The individual chapters and pages are really tight. On the other hand, at the macro-level the book is a wee jumbled. He expands on some incredibly cool ideas on sparklines; but then there’s also a reprint of an old pamphlet on PowerPoint; and then there’s also an odd dwarf chapter on sculpture. Hmm.
Later, Tufte offers a bit pseudo-inspirational advice on information design: “What would Richard Feynman think?” Well, gosh, Ed. I really don’t have a clue. How about a little help? I’m reading your book so you can tell me. Don’t make me think! Er…
But really, it’s easy to criticise because it’s kind of hard to choose which excellent parts to highlight. There’s a lot to learn here.
Mark Larson 
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[…] McCloud traces the roots of comics back to the early days of literacy, before literature and art went their separate ways. Drawing on this union is where comics set themselves apart as a unique form of visual communication. I see a parallel here with Beautiful Evidence (my review), where Tufte has a whole chapter called “Words, Numbers, Images, Together.” Those were the good ol’ days when words and doodles got along just fine without ridicule. […]
[…] The University of British Columbia has placed online Oliver Byrne’s rendition of Euclid’s geometry. Very cool. Edward Tufte highlighted it in one of his recent books that I read. I can’t remember if it was Beautiful Evidence or Envisioning Information. In sum… An unusual and attractive edition of Euclid was published in 1847 in England, edited by an otherwise unknown mathematician named Oliver Byrne. It covers the first 6 books of Euclid, which range through most of elementary plane geometry and the theory of proportions. What distinguishes Byrne’s edition is that he attempts to present Euclid’s proofs in terms of pictures, using as little text – and in particular as few labels – as possible. What makes the book especially striking is his use of colour. […]
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