Blog 2015

  • Ye Olde Pie Chart Debate

    Ye Olde Pie Chart Debate

    You may think that the debate over pie charts was a new one, but it has raged on for at least 100 years. Brinton started it in 1914, and great drama unfolded in the pages of the Journal of the American Statistical Association in the 1920s.


  • Memorability, Science, and The Value of Thinking Outside the Box

    Memorability, Science, and The Value of Thinking Outside the Box

    Stephen Few has written a long and scathing piece tearing down a paper presented at VIS earlier this year. While some of his criticism is justified, it is too focused on one of the authors, and it comes from an idea of visualization research that is far too limited.


  • Review: Munroe’s Thing Explainer and Pinker’s Sense of Style

    Review: Munroe’s Thing Explainer and Pinker’s Sense of Style

    Bad writing and the inability to explain in terms normal people can understand are the hallmarks of academic writing. Here are two books every academic should read and take to heart to be able to recognize bad prose and learn how to fix it.