The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

Being able to think graphically in a coherent way as a software developer means you start to think about how to explain your work to others as more than lines of code -- and in explaining to others, improving your own understanding of what you're writing.

on HN, 2020

I heartily recommend this book because it teaches one very hard thing very well. You just have to understand that you do not always want to do this thing (yet you now have a way to start to understand the trade-offs you are making).

on HN, 2016

The Visual Display of Quantitative Data is great as it gets you thinking about different ways to present ideas effectively. The map of Napoleons march to and from Russia is exquisite.

on HN, 2022

Very fun to peruse the graphs and charts. The visualization of Napolean's army marching into Russian winter and back is a classic.

on HN, 2020

One of Tufte's main themes was, I thought, that only information that directly conveys meaning should be included, and everything else should be thrown out.

on HN, 2016

If you're familiar with basic theory (the visual dimensions, visual psychology, etc), his books are even more mind-blowing. He's uniquely gifted at curating and critiquing.

on HN, 2020