The golden age of statistical graphics

DOI10.1214/08-STS268zbMATH Open1329.62018arXiv0906.3979OpenAlexW3103703356MaRDI QIDQ907948FDOQ907948

Authors: Michael Friendly 

Publication date: 2 February 2016

Published in: Statistical Science (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Statistical graphics and data visualization have long histories, but their modern forms began only in the early 1800s. Between roughly 1850 and 1900 ($pm10$), an explosive growth occurred in both the general use of graphic methods and the range of topics to which they were applied. Innovations were prodigious and some of the most exquisite graphics ever produced appeared, resulting in what may be called the ``Golden Age of Statistical Graphics. In this article I trace the origins of this period in terms of the infrastructure required to produce this explosive growth: 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. To illustrate, I describe some specific contributions that give rise to the appellation ``Golden Age.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/0906.3979

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zbMATH Keywords

smoothingdata visualizationFrancis Galtonhistory of statisticsCharles Joseph MinardFlorence NightingaleFrancis Walkerthematic cartography

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Graphical methods in statistics (62A09) History of mathematics in the 19th century (01A55) History of statistics (62-03)

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Cited In (5)

• The prehistory of the center for statistics and the social sciences, with a prequel and epilogue
• The first (known) statistical graph: Michael Florent van Langren and the ``secret of longitude
• Teaching the Next Generation of Statistics Students to “Think With Data”: Special Issue on Statistics and the Undergraduate Curriculum
• Graphs in the 1680s: Martin Lister, Robert Plot, William Molyneux and John Warner
• The radiant diagrams of Florence Nightingale (invited article)

Uses Software

• Guerry

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