friendly2008goldenage

p. 502: “the first half of the 19th century was an age of enthusiasm for graphical display and witnessed explosive growth in statistical graphics and thematic mapping, at a rate which would not be equaled until recent times.”

pp. 502–503: “In the latter half of the 19th century, youthful enthusiasm matured, and a variety of developments in statistics, data collection and technology combined to produce a ‘perfect storm’ for data graphics. The result was a qualitatively distinct period which produced works of unparalleled beauty and scope, the likes of which would be hard to duplicate today.”

Friendly calls this period the “Golden Age of Statistical Graphics.” (503)

p. 503: What made rapid growth possible: “recognition of the importance of systematic data collection by the state; the rise of statistical theory and statistical thinking; enabling developments of technology; and inventions of novel methods to portray statistical data.”

p. 504: Quotes funkhouser1937graphical, p. 330:

The period from 1860 to 1890 may be called the golden age of graphics, for it was marked by the unrestrained enthusiasm not only of statisticians but of government and municipal authorities, by the eagerness with which the possibilities and problems of graphic representation were debated and by the graphic displays which became an important adjunct of almost every kind of scientific gathering. During this period the method was officially recognized by government agencies and became a feature of official publications. Here also is found the first reference to the graphic method as a universal language together with the opinion of more sober statisticians that the method was running away with itself.

pp. 505–506: Statistics emerged by the needs of the state, which was taking an interest in matters of social and human capital: mortality rates, taxes, raising armies were key concerns of this “political arithmetic” (as Sir William Petty called it). By the mid-1700s, European countries were measuring population distributions and inform state policies. By the early 19th century, interest in statistics led to the first societies.

p. 505: The first choropleth map introduced by Baron Charles Dupin in 1826 on crime statistics.

p. 508: William Playfair developed line graphs in 1786 to show changes in economic indicators (national debt, imports, exports) over time.

p. 512: E. J. Marey argued in 1878 that Minard’s Napoleon graphic “defies the pen of the historian in its brutal eloquence”

p. 512: Minard was an engineer, serving as a civil engineer in the construction of railways and canals, before he became what Friendly calls “a visual engineer for the modern French state.”

p. 512: Minard produced 63 known graphic works between 1843 and 1869, largely focused on matters of trade, commerce, and transportation.

p. 513: Charles Minard’s Carte figurative et approximative des quantités de coton en Europe en 1858 et 1862