In Wednesday’s Munchie Generative Instincts, there was talk of representing data visually.
I quoted Eugene Wei:
The reason the book [Tufte] influenced me so deeply is that it is actually a book about the pursuit of truth through knowledge. It is ostensibly about producing better charts; what stays with you is the principles for general clarity of thought. Reading the book, chiseling away at my line graphs late nights, talking to people all over the company to understand what might explain each of them, gave me a path towards explaining the past and predicting the future. Ask anyone about any work of art they love, whether it’s a book or a movie or an album, and it’s never just about what it’s about. I haven’t read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance; I’m guessing it wasn’t written just for motorcycle enthusiasts. A good line graph is a fusion of right and left brain, of literacy and numeracy. Just numbers alone aren’t enough to explain the truth, but accurate numbers, represented truthfully, are a check on our anecdotal excesses, confirmation biases, tribal affiliations.
I wanted to share a few places where you can see visuals expertly used to teach or bring the user through a story.
🧪Math and Science Interactive Essays
- https://jackschaedler.github.io/Don’t miss: A Compact Primer on Digital Signal Processing
This is one of the most amazing articles I’ve ever seen online.
- https://ciechanow.ski/Don’t miss: Internal Combustion Engine
Beautiful and interactive
- A Visual Introduction To Machine LearningSo well done your kid will understand it.
There’s even a Part II:
- University of Colorado’s Interactive SimsBrowse a library of sims demonstrating scientific principles
🔭Explorables
- Nicky CaseNicky’s work bursts with brilliance and creativity.
The archive is loaded with explorables.
Don’t miss: An Interactive Introduction to Attractor Landscapes
If you have ever heard the word “sticky” in a trading context that explorable is a must. It’s a fascinating lens for articulating option regimes.
Nicky also has one on the Wisdom/Madness of Crowds.
Nicky is incredibly transparent and the work is 100% open-source. I find it insanely inspirational.
- Explorable Explanations…a hub for learning through play! We’re a disorganized “movement” of artists, coders & educators who want to reunite play and learning.
Straight into the veins.
🍮Pudding posts
The Pudding is a digital publication that brings cultural stories to life using interactive visualizations. They highlight some of their favorites in this introduction.
Their recent newsletter featured several fun ones. I often check out the articles even if the topic doesn’t interest me just because the design and tech used to create them is always fresh:
Romance Novels (Link)
What does a happily ever after look like? We look at over 1,400 romance covers to find out what visuals are used.
Invisible Epidemic (Link)
Watch 24 hours of an American day, and the invisible crisis hiding in plain sight
A series of experimental clocks that connect data to time
A clock where the time is…