Beautiful Data

I've never really thought about data being beautiful, but when I think about charts, graphs, or other representations of data I think about what aspects of these representations caught my attention and why. After reading more about what makes data beautiful, it makes sense that it is not just about the colors, its about how the information is represented. The visual must speak the "language of the eye" and the "language of the mind" simultaneously, as suggested by David McCandless. It is important to represent the data in a way that is easily understood, and provides all the necessary information. However, it should be visually appealing. As Noah Lliinsky suggests, data "must be aesthetically pleasing, yes, but it must also be novel, informative, and efficient." Beautiful data should possess all of these qualities. It should be innovative, and should attempt to convey information in a new way. He uses the periodic table and the map of the London Underground as examples of data having these components. Data should also be informative. If the data has no purpose their is not point in displaying it. And it should also be efficient, and easy to understand. A good example of beautiful data is the Geograph project underway in Great Britain and Ireland. The way the data is represented is beautiful, novel, informative, and efficient. The maps they are creating are packed with a great deal of information about the geography throughout Great Britain, and the geography can be seen and not just described. The pictures that are being collected for this project are beautiful, but they are also informative.
Matthias Shapiro believes that data should tell a story, which begins with answering a single question that you will answer through data. He informs the reader of the step by step process to creating a visualization. There have been many changes that have taken place in the field of data visualization through the years, but the purpose of organizing and representing data has always been.
Visualizations serve a great purpose: to inform. However, as we read in the Dragga and Voss essay, sometimes the viewer can be manipulated and mislead. It is important to look at data representations with a critical eye, so that we are in control of the information we absorb and are able to analyze it in a way that presents the truth.

As far a using data visualizations in the classroom, I think it is a great way to get them to think more critically about the information they take in. You can teach them to ask questions about visuals, and look at them with a critical eye. In history, it is a little harder I think to use visuals in the classroom, and since data representation is not our focus as history teachers, I think we have to be very careful how much time we spend on such a topic. I think it would be a good idea to have them analyze some visual representation in their textbook at the beginning of the semester. I think this would go well with teaching them how to use the textbook, and how to take information from it. I think you could let them choose any visual in the text book, and have them analyze it based on Lliinsky's 4 components of a good visual. I think this would be a quick assignment, but would also be very informative and engaging.