Data Visualization for People of All Ages (AK Peters Visualization Series)

Data visualization is the art and science of making information visible. On paper and in our imaginations, it’s a language of shapes and colors that holds our best ideas and most important questions. As we find ourselves swimming in data of all kinds, visualization can help us to understand, express, and explore the richness of the world around us. No matter your age or background, this book opens the door to new ways of thinking and sharing through the power of data visualization. Data Visualization for People of All Ages is a field guide to visual literacy, born from the author’s personal experience working with world-class scholars, engineers, and scientists. By walking through the different ways of showing data—including color, angle, position, and length—you’ll learn how charts and graphs truly work so that no visualization is ever a mystery or out of reach. It doesn’t stop at what fits on a page, either. You’ll journey into cutting-edge topics like data sonification and data physicalization, using sound and touch to share data across the different senses. Packed with practical examples and exercises to help you connect the dots, this book will teach you how to create and understand data visualizations on your own—all without writing a single line of code or getting tangled up in software. Written with accessibility in mind, this book invites everyone to the table to share the joy of one of today’s most necessary skills. Perfect for home or classroom use, this friendly companion gives people of all ages everything they need to start visualizing with confidence. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Series Editor Foreword About the Author Welcome! 1 What is Data? Data Vocabulary Collecting Data into a Table Data Types Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 2 What is Data Visualization? Data Visualization in your World Why is Data Visualization Important? Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 3 Length and Height Examples from Everyday Life The building Blocks of Length and Height Making a Bar Chart Bar Charts the Right Way Stacked Bar Charts Introducing Legends Introducing Axes Titles and Captions Using Length to Show Distance, Change, and Time Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 4 Size and Area Shapes of Different Areas Making Legends for Size Using Size for Words The Problem with Area Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 5 Position Remembering Axes Scatterplots Bubble Charts Connecting the Dots Scatterplots with Categories Fixing Crowded and Overlapping Points Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 6 Color for Categorical Data Using Colors to Show Categories Creating a Categorical Color Palette Categorical Colors in Scatterplots and line Charts Stacked and Grouped Bar Charts Using Colors to Draw Attention Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 7 Color for Numerical Data What are Gradients? Low-to-high Gradients Low-middle-high Diverging Gradients Multi-color and Rainbow Gradients Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 8 Color for Ordinal Data Stoplight Colors: The Original Ordinal Palette Low-to-high Ordinal Palettes Accidental Ordinal Colors Can Cause Confusion Low-middle-high Diverging Palettes Introducing Small Multiples Multi-color and Rainbow Ordinal Palettes Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 9 Shapes and Patterns Shapes for Categories Using Shapes and Colors Together Using Shapes and Colors Separately Solid and Dotted Lines Filling Areas with Patterns and Textures Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 10 Making Colorblind-Friendly Visualizations How We See Color at All Why Colorblindness Happens Different Types of Colorblindness How to be Colorblind-friendly Colorblind-friendliness Helps Everyone Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 11 Angle Examples from Your Everyday Life Bending Axes Donut and Meter Charts Using Angle and Position Together Using Angle, Position, and Color Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 12 Connections and Networks Networks and Trees Trees of all Shapes and Sizes Parallel Coordinate Graphs Sankey Diagrams Chord Diagrams Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 13 Visualization Whoopsies You can’t Always Believe Your Eyes Double Axes Backward Axes Bar Charts that don’t Start at Zero Very Tall or Flat Graphs Using Extra Dimensions for no Reason Sometimes 3D Does Make Sense Not Telling the Whole Story Just Plain Wrong, Aka Lying Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 14 Sound and Touch Data you Can Hear Pitch Instrument Volume Other types of Data Sonification Data You Can Touch Texture Temperature Weight Other Types of Data Physicalization Sharing Data in more Ways Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! 15 Wrapping Up Encoding All Along Making Comparisons Messing with Encodings Know Your Purpose Know Your Audience Putting It All Together Congratulations and Good Luck! Chapter Summary It’s your Turn! Appendix 1 – Glossary of Words Appendix 2 – Glossary of Graphs Appendix 3 – Solutions Guide Bibliography Acknowledgments Index