I picked up a book by Horn last year "Visual Language" (MacroVU Press),
and was very interested and *quite* impressed except for one statement on
p17 with which I profoundly disagree. Horn claims:
"We have software that produces quantitative graphs and charts
automatically with the push of a button.
"The sublanguage (or dialect) of quantitative charting has become a
thoroughly understood and automatic process."
This, as evidenced by many published graphics in popular, technical and
academic media, is completely the opposite of the truth. It is equivalent
to claiming that the computer programs that generate gibberish by using
words from lists, thus forming grammatical sentences with no meaning, are
not only producing literature but are communicating the ideas of the
program user. (Sorry Ken, I realise I should defend that position with a
treatise but don't have time right now. I am available for public rants
on the topic.)
One can also look at the popular work of Tony Buzan (www.mind-map.com) for
ideas on how visual thinking aids both analysis and communication. Buzan's
book "The Mind Map Book" (BBC) includes samples of notebooks from various
historically famous thinkers, pointing to the integration of text and
images. The move to pure text was a commercially-driven consequence of
physical typesetting. Any *thoughtful* move in the opposite direction is
to be applauded. If your committee or examiners wish to argue for
words-only, please forward their reasons to this list.
A particularly famous (in the UK!) recent example of integrating text and
drawings was the well-loved series of guidebooks to the Lake District by
Alfred Wainwright. After being dropped by the original publisher, the
news last week is that they will be put back in print by another.
http://www.fellwalk.co.uk/eld.htm gives a taste.
R. Allan Reese Email: [log in to unmask]
Associate Manager GRI Direct voice: +44 1482 466845
Graduate School Voice messages: +44 1482 466844
Hull University, Hull HU6 7RX, UK. Fax: +44 1482 466436
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The management here were SO impressed with W Edward Deming's "Out of
the crisis" that they are working flat out to create THE BEST crisis;
then they can start implementing the 13 obligations.
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