About a month ago, after hearing me talk about some of my current research interests and how to present information most effectively, David and John made sure I had The Visual Representation of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte to read. David has been a fan of Edward Tufte for years and has read two of his books. A former professor at both Princeton and Yale, Tufte has been described by The New York Times as the “da Vinci of data” and by Business Week as the “Galileo of graphics.”
“Why all this Edward Tufte stuff?” David asked the two friendly men in the gallery. “This is his work,” the man who had handed us the papers said. “But what’s your connection with him?” David asked. “This is his gallery,” the other man said. “This is all his art. This is his place.” Delighted, David and I walked through the gallery, taking in the sculptures and video displays and installations. I paid particular attention to the clear instructions on the wall.
Grace Mattern 