Graphics

  • Lyric ©2017 Lawrence Mark Lesser
    To the tune of “From a Distance” by Julie Gold 

    With statistics,
    many soldiers were saved
    in the Crimean War.
    With statistics,
    Florence Nightingale
    found what made the death rate soar.
    With statistics, Florence graphed the data
    in innovative ways:
    A rose diagram, circular histogram,
    a polar area display.

    With statistics,
    uncleanliness was found
    to have caused those extra deaths.
    With statistics,
    Florence led reform
    to implement what was best.
    With statistics, she founded modern nursing
    with brilliance and compassion:
    She gave herself to the cause of health,
    she took bold action.

    God is teaching us, God is teaching us,
    God is teaching us through statistics.

    With statistics,
    England and India
    were healthier places to live.
    Oh, statistics
    shone like the lamp
    Florence brought from bed to bed.
    With statistics, she set an example
    of vision and of strength:
    More than pie charts, her mind and heart
    would light and lead the way.

  • Lyrics © 2017 Dennis K. Pearl and Lawrence M. Lesser
    may sing to the tune of  "You've Got a Friend" by Carole King

    When your pattern is muddled
    and just how the data spans
    and nothing, nothing flows just right.
    Close your eyes and think curvy lines
    and soon it will be there
    to brighten up data with ev’ry byte.

    You just call a pattern by name
    and you know whenever it can,
    the series is running, oh yeah baby, to add points again.
    Winter, spring, summer or fall,
    seasonality is the call.
    It’ll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah
    You've got a trend.

    If the points above your line
    should be randomly spread out,
    and give that old balance with those below;
    keep their fit together
    and see my line in the cloud now.
    Soon you'll see the errors you don’t ignore.

    You just call a pattern by name
    and you know whenever it can,
    the series is running, oh yes it will, to add points again.
    Winter, spring, summer or fall, yeah
    seasonality is the call.
    It'll be there, yes it will.

    Ain't it good to know that you've got a trend.
    When data are uncontrolled
    they'll spurt you, and avert you
    and take control if you let them.
    Oh yeah, don't you let 'em now.

    You just call a pattern by name
    and you know whenever it can,
    the series is running, oh yes it will, to add points again.
    Winter, spring, summer or fall, yeah
    seasonality is the call.
    It'll be there, yes it will.
    You’ve got a trend.

    You've got a trend, yeah.
    Ain't it good to know you've got a trend.
    It’s cyclical, so I’ll say it again:
    Oh, yeah yeah, you've got a trend.

  • by Eveline Pye

    A computer printout
    A stack of paper
    Like a shallow box
    Filled with facts
    Inviting me
    To join them.

    I slide my fingers
    Between overlapping sheets
    And browse between the columns
    Letting numbers lead me
    Into dark tunnels

    Until pictures appear
    On cave walls and
    Trends emerge
    Out of random rock

    A journey into uncertainty
    Borehole deep
    Below superficial knowledge
    I search for a richer vein

  • A rabbi, a priest, and a statistician walk into a bar. The rabbi walks up to the bar and says "I'll have 4 bottles of wine for my services on Saturday morning."
    The priest walks up to the bar and says "I'll have 6 bottles of wine for my services Sunday morning."
    The statistician walks up to the bar and says "This is interesting data. I'll have the bar-graph."

  • 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 David Hubbard (1870 - 1943)

  • ...making an appeal to the eye when proportion and magnitude are concerned, is the best and readiest method of conveying a distinct idea.

    William Playfair (1759 - 1823)

  • At their best, graphics are instruments for reasoning about quantitative information.

    Edward R. Tufte (1942 - )

  • I love pictures. Formulas and symbols - I don't especially like them.

    David Blackwell (1919 - 2010)

  • You must never tell a thing. You must illustrate it. We learn through the eye and not the noggin.

    Will Rogers (1879 - 1935)

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