Raising the “bar”, crossing the “line” and never once eating humble “pie”: with William Playfair
Fact:
There is a plethora of visualization and infographic tools around us today from the bubbly bubble chart to the mysterious candlestick chart; from the poetic waterfall chart to the intricate spider web chart (one can keep illustrating more). The process of visualizing data has been democratized and chart forms are the new art forms now.
However, when it comes to the crux, and we want to communicate something critical, often to senior management who have little patience and sometimes even lesser understanding of the new visual tools, we go back to the trusted old faithful trio — the bar, the line and the pie.
Confession:
I love history and the stories that lurk behind the everyday mundane. So here’s a quick historical mystery (real) story about the origins of graphical visualization. Call it trivia, or just a dose of wordplay induced fun!
Raising the “bar”, crossing the “line” and never once eating humble “pie”:
Year 1786: Time-series line graph
Published in the “Commercial and Political Atlas of 1786.”
Year 1786: Bar chart
Published in the “Commercial and Political Atlas of 1786.”
Year 1801: Pie chart
Published in Statistical Breviary of 1801 in an attempt to show the land holdings of the Turkish empire.
The question:
As students of data and visualization, isn’t it fascinating to know that the line charts, the pie charts and the bar charts that we today sprinkle liberally on our dashboards, sometimes in places where they may not even be needed, were all the invention of one man — Mr. William Playfair?
The mystery man:
And the little we do know about him makes this little bit history trivia even more interesting.
History paints the picture of a man who hardly had a level playing field in his own colourful and eventful life and who certainly did not believe in the concept of playing fair. Living up to his name, you wonder!
Born in Scotland, he spent his life in UK and Paris. From what is known of his life, he pursued a multitude of passions with equal enthusiasm including — millwright, engineer, draftsman, accountant, inventor, silversmith, merchant, investment broker, economist, statistician, pamphleteer, translator, publicist, land speculator, convict, banker, ardent royalist, journalist, editor, and blackmailer.
Phew! A deep breath is much needed indeed. There’s more.
He is rumoured to have been involved in the storming of the Parisian prison, la Bastille, on 14 July 1789. He tried setting up multiple business ventures that failed. He had to leave France when he was suspected of embezzling money from prospective settlers who had paid for their land. And there was a small attempt to blackmail Lord Archibald Douglas as well. You get the picture, in as graphical a shape as you can imagine.
A classic polymath or a rogue inventor? To whom do we owe the first inventions in graphical design?
I guess that answer is hidden forever in the lost pages of history. But what will continue to make history is that in between his myriad activities, legal and illegal, he managed to sneak in time to develop the bar, the line and the pie chart.
Oh yes, and why are we speaking about him today? He was born on 22nd September, 1759.
I am a storyteller who loves finding, creating and telling stories that can help improve learning as well as business outcomes. Twitter: debleenaR, blog:debleenaroy.wordpress.com, Email: debleena.majumdar@gmail.com.
