10.1 History of Data visualisation

William Playfair

A line chart drawn on graph paper showing the difference between imports and exports in England from 1700 to 1800. The lines run parallel to each other and rise slowly then suddenly increase from 1780. Imports are lower than exports.
Early image of a line chart, created by William Playfair.

Florence Nightingale

Two rose diagrams show the number of deaths by different causes for each month from 1854 to 1855 and 1855 to 1856. Rose diagrams have segments with sizes based on the number, and are coloured depending on the type of mortality.
Diagram of the Causes of Mortality in the Army of the East, by Florence Nightingale, 1858.

W.E.B Du Bois

A red spiral with 4 diagonal lines emerging from the top of the spiral, each starting where the last line ended. The diagram shows the populations of Black or African American people living in different areas of city and rural.
The “Du Bois Spiral”, created by Black sociologist, W.E.B Du Bois for the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris.