Category Archives: Data Visualization

More Awe, Please

Posted on December 27, 2013 by cicada

Last year I posted this essay on the awe-inducing power of murmurations, in which I mused on the relationship between awe and fear: When I’m lucky enough to witness dramatic natural phenomena (or even something as quotidian as an undiluted, … Continue reading →

Posted in Awe, Data Visualization, Neuroscience, Yikes! | Comments Off

Weekend Mappy Links: Ancient Landscapes, A Map Library Speakeasy, Forensic Topology, Mapping Disasters, Cymatics

Posted on September 21, 2013 by cicada

An expert on mapping ancient landscapes explains why Big Oil is his biggest customer, among other things. (interview at BLDGBLOG) For bibliophiles: a ton of photos from a visit to the Prelinger Library (AKA the “speakeasy of [map] libraries”). (by … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs and Blogging, Data Visualization, Ephemera, Film, Video & Music, Maps, Neuroscience | Comments Off

Of satellites, maps, and worldbuilding

Posted on May 15, 2012 by cicada

It’s kind of mind-boggling how much technology has changed our relationship with maps over the past decade. I remember when my mental approximation of geography was based either on (depending on the appropriate scale) globes with pastel continents on them, … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Data Visualization, Littademia, Maps, Retrotechnology | Comments Off

I love it when Robert Krulwich agrees with me!

Posted on March 16, 2012 by cicada

NPR science correspondent Robert Krulwich, he of the oh-so-familiar voice, quoted me/BioE in a sciart blog post yesterday about “Magnetic Movie,” a short film by the artistic team of Ruth Jarman and Joseph Gerhardt. Here’s the original BioE post quoted … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs and Blogging, Data Visualization, Film, Video & Music, Science, Science in culture & policy | Comments Off

Adapting scientific illustration to modern needs

Posted on February 25, 2012 by cicada

The Bora Zivkovic pointed out this article by Brian Hayes for American Scientist. After convincingly arguing that static, 2D scientific figures (in research papers and in popular science writing) fail to maximize the communicative potential of current technology, Hayes suggests … Continue reading →

Posted in Data Visualization, Science | Comments Off

Was the Black Death > Spanish flu?

Posted on February 4, 2012 by cicada

Pop quiz: which plague took more lives – the Black Death, measles, or Spanish flu? Find out in a surprisingly eye-pleasing way with this infographic from Column Five Media and GOOD (snippet below): I’m a little creeped out that an … Continue reading →

Posted in Data Visualization, Design, Medical Illustration and History | Comments Off