This is a 1.5-hour video of a PowerPoint lecture on the history of data visualization. The first 40 minutes is a survey of historical attempts at data visualization with numerous illustrations. The examples were interesting but would have been more interesting if some overarching themes or principles were provided. As it was, the organization was largely temporal, and the quality of the video was rather poor making it difficult to see the slides clearly.

The remaining portion focused on three research areas: 1) reconciliation of formal and graphic methods (which in more familiar terms would be the integration of exploratory and confirmatory statistical techniques); 2) the rise of graphical literacy and expression; and 3) the social life of visualization. The material was, again, a survey without any organizing principles and the video quality made it difficult to see the slides clearly.

However, the presentation redeemed itself on the final topic--“the social life of visualization”--which showed examples of a website that allowed multiple users to access and visualize data and further to share their visualizations and interpretations. One example that I found particularly interesting was how baby names change over time, which provided not only some interesting information, but a great argument in favor of shared data visualization.

I found it ironic that someone who focuses on data visualization did such a poor job on slide design and presentation design. One would think that skills in one area would carry over into the other. Nonetheless, the lecture would be of interest to anyone who would like a historical survey of data visualization as it provides abundant examples. And the last 20 minutes would be of interest to anyone who would like some examples of and justification for social visualization, which I found particularly interesting.