The Truthful Art is an introduction to quantitative thinking and statistical and cartographical representation written specifically for journalists and designers. A follow-up to The Functional Art, it goes into the specifics of how to create functional charts, maps, and graphs. Part 1 in The Truthful Art provides a broad introduction to statistics, written with journalists and designers in mind. Cairo avoids using jargon and formulas, focusing instead on how to manage and interpret data sets, and how to extract stories from them. In Part 2, Cairo gets down to business giving specific advice on how to use charts and maps in infographics and visualization. Readers will learn what kind of statistical charts exist and how to use them correctly; what maps are with an introduction to cartography terms and techniques; the basics of maps including how to create locator maps and how to understand basic cartographical terms such as projection, scale, symbolization, etc.; and the main kinds of thematic maps (choropleth, isopleth, proportional symbol, etc.) and how to use them. In Part 3, Cairo leaves the classroom and enters the real world with an in-depth look at how information graphics and visualization teams are organized at publications around the world including The New York Times, La Nacion (Costa Rica), Estado de S (c)o Paulo (Brazil), and more. He also explains how to develop a successful style book for graphics using sample pages from several real style books for examples. Part 4, the last section of the book, features interviews with six to 10 leading designers of charts and maps including Jer Thorp, Amanda Cox, Ben Fry, and more.
Alberto Cairo is the Knight Chair in Visual Journalism at the School of Communication of the University of Miami (UM), where he heads specialisations in infographics and data visualisation. He's also director of the visualisation program of UM's Center for Computational Science, and Visualization Innovator-in-Residence at Univisión. Over the past two decades, Cairo has been director of infographics and visualisation at news organisations in Spain and Brazil, in addition to consulting with companies and educational institutions in more than 20 countries.
"Alberto Cairo is widely acknowledged as journalism's preeminent
data viz wiz. He is also journalism's preeminent data scholar. As
newsrooms rush to embrace data journalism as a new tool—and
toy—Cairo sets the standard for how data should be understood,
analyzed, and presented. The Truthful Art is both a
manifesto and a manual for how to use data to accurately, clearly,
engagingly, imaginatively, beautifully, and reliably inform the
public." - Jeff Jarvis, professor at CUNY Graduate School of
Journalism and author of Geeks Bearing Gifts: Imagining New
Futures for News
"A feast for both the eyes and mind, Alberto Cairo's The
Truthful Art deftly explores the science—and-art—of data
visualization. The book is a must-read for scientists, educators,
journalists, and just about anyone who cares about how to
communicate effectively in the information age." - Michael E.
Mann, Distinguished Professor, Penn State University and author
of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars “If I were
smarter, had more patience with academia, and had more focus, I
might turn out to be more like Alberto, closer to the brilliance
that he applies to the nature of information architecture. His
title explains a lot: truth represents a most fundamental of
attitudes, in questions asked, answers given and journeys taken.
This [book] is a must on your thoughtful shelf of understanding.” —
Richard Saul Wurman, founder of the TED Conference
“Alberto Cairo is a great educator and an engaging storyteller.
In The Truthful Art he takes us on a rich, informed, and
well-visualized journey that depicts the process by which one
scrutinizes data and represents information. The book synthesizes a
lot of knowledge and carefully explains how to create effective
visualizations with a focus on statistical principles. The
Truthful Art will be incredibly useful to both practitioners
and students, especially within the arts and humanities, such as
those involved in data journalism and information design.” — Isabel
Meirelles, professor at OCAD University (Canada) and author
of Design for Information
“As soon as I started immersing myself in The Truthful
Art, I was horrified (and somewhat ashamed) to realize how
much I didn’t know about data visualization. I’ve spent most of my
career pursuing a more illustrative way to present data, but
Alberto Cairo’s clarifying prose superbly explained the finer
points of data viz. Since Alberto warns us that “[data is] always
noisy, dirty, and uncertain,” everyone in this business had better
read his book to find out how to properly construct visualizations
that not only tell the truth, but also allow us to interact
meaningfully with them.” — Nigel Holmes, founder of Explanation
Graphics “To communicate data clearly, you have to think
about it clearly. The Truthful Art dives deep and
provides an enlightened introduction to the ‘power tools’ of data
experts: science, statistics, and visualization.” — Fe
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
