Illustrating science since 1845
What is visualization? When asked of data and information visualization professionals, answers will generally swirl around one of two punch lines…a visual tool that aids in (1) analysis or (2) communication of information.
Earlier this year, I reported the punchline of my quest to uncover the story behind the story of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures album cover.
Earlier this year, I learned that the founding editor of Scientific American Magazine, Rufus Porter, was an artist—an influential muralist and prolific portrait painter at that.
Although data visualization is often viewed as a fairly straightforward, dispassionate way of presenting facts, anyone who has studied the field knows that data-driven graphics can be hard to decipher, and are often far from impartial.
As someone who works at the intersection of art and science, I have always found it easy to make the case that all artists are scientists. From the moment we pick up a crayon and make our first mark, we are experimenting.
A graph that plots rising CO2 over the decades has always been a lesser known icon in demonstrating the reality of global warming.
![An Ode to MESSENGER and Mariner 10: Graphics from the Archive [Video]](/public/resources/icon__SA-logo-placeholder--rect-3166a74694258e68c9c9fd6e14c45ff6.jpg){kind=icon}
In honor of the spacecraft MESSENGER, which ends its mission today with a planned collision with Mercury, here’s a look back at the craft and its travels, as illustrated by Don Foley for the March 2011 issue of Scientific American.
News graphics professionals converged in Pamplona, Spain for the 23rd annual Malofiej Information Graphics World Summit for one week last month.
In the May issue of Scientific American, a familiar friend makes an appearance: a chart of fundamental particles. These particles—fermions (which include constituents of matter such as electrons and quarks) and bosons (usually carriers of force)—are at the very heart of the Standard Model of particle physics.
The May/June cover is a first for Scientific American MIND in that it features our first non-human cover boy - a very handsome 5 year old Border Collie named Ten!
STAFFBehind the scenes at Scientific American
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Exploring the human condition.
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Insights into intelligence, creativity, and the mind
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Everything you always wanted to know about raising science-literate kids
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Critical views of science in the news
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Explore the science behind the dog in your bed
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Science by and for kids ages 8-15
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Illusions, Delusions, and Everyday Deceptions
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More than wires - exploring the connections between energy, environment, and our lives
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Mathematics: learning it, doing it, celebrating it.
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Adventures in the good science of rock-breaking.
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STAFFIllustrating science since 1845
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STAFFA science blog, sans blague
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Amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals - living and extinct
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A Blog About the Weird Wonderfulness of Life on Earth
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Exploring and celebrating diversity in science.
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