On Graphs (-1969)

"There is a magic in graphs. The profile of a curve reveals in a flash a whole situation - the life history of an epidemic, a panic, or an era of prosperity. The curve informs the mind, awakens the imagination, convinces." (Henry D Hubbard [in William Brinton's "Graphic Presentation", 1939])

"Graphic methods are very commonly used in business correlation problems. On the whole, carefully handled and skillfully interpreted graphs have certain advantages over mathematical methods of determining correlation in the usual business problems. The elements of judgment and special knowledge of conditions can be more easily introduced in studying correlation graphically. Mathematical correlation is often much too rigid for the data at hand." (John R Riggleman & Ira N Frisbee, "Business Statistics", 1938)

"Graphs are all inclusive. No fact is too slight or too great to plot to a scale suited to the eye. Graphs may record the path of an ion or the orbit of the sun, the rise of a civilization, or the acceleration of a bullet, the climate of a century or the varying pressure of a heart beat, the growth of a business, or the nerve reactions of a child." (Henry D Hubbard [foreword to Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Presentation", 1939)])

"The graphic art depicts magnitudes to the eye. It does more. It compels the seeing of relations. We may portray by simple graphic methods whole masses of intricate routine, the organization of an enterprise, or the plan of a campaign. Graphs serve as storm signals for the manager, statesman, engineer; as potent narratives for the actuary, statist, naturalist; and as forceful engines of research for science, technology and industry. They display results. They disclose new facts and laws. They reveal discoveries as the bud unfolds the flower." (Henry D Hubbard [foreword to Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Presentation", 1939)])

"The graphic language is modern. We are learning its alphabet. That it will develop a lexicon and a literature marvelous for its vividness and the variety of application is inevitable. Graphs are dynamic, dramatic. They may epitomize an epoch, each dot a fact, each slope an event, each curve a history. Wherever there are data to record, inferences to draw, or facts to tell, graphs furnish the unrivalled means whose power we are just beginning to realize and to apply." (Henry D Hubbard [foreword to Willard C Brinton, "Graphic Presentation", 1939)])

"Charts and graphs represent an extremely useful and flexible medium for explaining, interpreting, and analyzing numerical facts largely by means of points, lines, areas, and other geometric forms and symbols. They make possible the presentation of quantitative data in a simple, clear, and effective manner and facilitate comparison of values, trends, and relationships. Moreover, charts and graphs possess certain qualities and values lacking in textual and tabular forms of presentation." (Calvin F Schmid, "Handbook of Graphic Presentation", 1954)

"If one technique of data analysis were to be exalted above all others for its ability to be revealing to the mind in connection with each of many different models, there is little doubt which one would be chosen. The simple graph has brought more information to the data analyst’s mind than any other device. It specializes in providing indications of unexpected phenomena." (John W Tukey, "The Future of Data Analysis", Annals of Mathematical Statistics Vol. 33 (1), 1962)

"The histogram, with its columns of area proportional to number, like the bar graph, is one of the most classical of statistical graphs. Its combination with a fitted bell-shaped curve has been common since the days when the Gaussian curve entered statistics. Yet as a graphical technique it really performs quite poorly. Who is there among us who can look at a histogram-fitted Gaussian combination and tell us, reliably, whether the fit is excellent, neutral, or poor? Who can tell us, when the fit is poor, of what the poorness consists? Yet these are just the sort of questions that a good graphical technique should answer at least approximately." (John W Tukey, "The Future of Processes of Data Analysis", 1965)

"Every graph is at least an indication, by contrast with some common instances of numbers." (John W Tukey, "Data Analysis, Including Statistics", 1968)

"One of the methods making the data intelligible is to represent it by means of graphs and diagrams. The graphic & diagrammatic representation of the data is always appealing to the eye as well as to the mind of the observer." (S P Singh & R P S Verma, "Agricultural Statistics", cca. 1969)