1900-1949: Modern Dark Ages

At the Paris Exposition in 1900, W. E. B. Du Bois compiled an exhibit of hundreds of graphs and photographs depicting the history of Negroes in America, including over 60 statistical charts, graphs and maps.

In one of the first statistical textbooks, Arthur Bowley (1901) illustrated an arithmetic and graphical analysis of time-series data using the total value of British and Irish exports from 1855-1899.  He presented a line graph of the time-series data, supplemented by overlaid line graphs of 3-, 5- and 10-year moving averages.  His goal was to show that while the initial series showed wide variability, moving averages made the series progressively smoother.

This work by Cheysson and Fontaine, reported by Bertillon, was the first proposal of standards for graphical presentation. The paper "Proposals to bring uniformity in the preparation of charts" discusses some key recommendations, including cautious use of symbols and hieroglyphs, and sparing use of comparison by areas.

It is proposed that x and y scales be constructed so that the average behaviour corresponds to a curve of 45 degrees. Other attempts to formulate standards for graphical procedures at the International Statistical Congress are discussed in detail.

Use of the "butterfly diagram'' to study the variation of sunspots over time, leading to the discovery that they were markedly reduced in frequency from 1645--1715 (the "Maunder minimum''). [Earlier work, started in 1843 by H. Schwabe, showed that sunspots exhibit an approximately twenty-two year cycle, with each eleven-year cycle of sunspots followed by a reversal of the direction of the sun's magnetic field]

Lorenz curve (cumulative distribution by rank order, to facilitate study of concentrations, income distribution)

Statistical diagrams begin to appear regularly in USA textbooks (graphs of temperature, population in texts of arithmetic, algebra)

Textbook in English devoted exclusively to statistical graphics

First International Hygiene-Exhibition in Dresden, with 259 graphical-statistical figures of 35 national and international exhibitors and more than 5 million visitors. [Roesle also wrote publications which dealt with the structure of graphical-statistical displays cite{Roesle:1913}.]

The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a log-log plot of luminosity as a function of temperature for stars, used to explain the changes as a star evolves. It provided an entirely new way to look at stars, and laid the groundwork for modern stellar physics and evolution, developed independently by

Arithmetic probability paper, ruled so that normal ogive appears as straight line

Parade of statistical graphics, May 17, 1913, including large graphs on horse-drawn floats, and a photograph with people arranged in a bell-shaped curve

Discovery of the concept of atomic number, based largely on graphical analysis (a plot of serial numbers of the elements vs. square root of frequencies from X-ray spectra) The linear relations showed that the periodic table was explained by atomic number rather than, as had been supposed, atomic weight, and predicted the existence of several yet-undiscovered elements

College course in statistical graphic methods, "The Graphic Method'' (possibly the first)

Published standards for graphical presentation (by representatives from several scientific societies)

Pictograms to represent a series of numbers by icons (combining concepts of the bar graph and pictogram of varying size)

Creation of a standing committee on graphics

Beginnings of the development of modern statistical theory (sampling distributions (1915), randomization, likelihood (1921), small sample theory, exact distributions, analysis of variance (1925), etc.)

Correspondence course in graphical methods (20 lessons for $50, supplemented by a book of 100 specimen illustrations of bar, curve, and circle diagrams; entended title includes "There's an idea in every chart'')

Gantt chart, designed to show scheduled and actual progress of projects

Annual college course in statistical graphical methods

Use of ethnographic maps, showing the distribution of mixed nationalities, played an important role in redrawing national boundaries of Central Europe and the Balkans following World War I

Social statistical chartbook, containing a variety of graphic and semi-graphic displays in a USA Government report. [The image below is a fine early example of a semi-graphic display, showing four variables simultaneously.]

Invention of the path diagram to show relations among a network of endogenous and exogenous variables forming a system of structural equations

Numerous textbooks on graphics, describing principles of graphical presentation of numerical information (published at a rate of about two each year), e.g.,

Invention of the iconoscope television camera-tube

The essential idea behind what are now called partial residual plots are discussed in Ezekial's paper: "A method of handling curvilinear correlation for any number of variables". Later in history, this is rediscovered by Larsen and McCleary (1972).

Museum of Social Statistical Graphics and the ISOTYPE system (International System of Typographic Picture Education)

Development of the control chart for statistical control of industrial processes

Experimental test of statistical graphical forms (pie vs. subdivided bar charts)

Spate of articles on experimental tests of statistical graphical forms

The birth of psychometrics, including unidimensional scaling (the law of comparative judgment) and multiple factor analysis. This would give rise to visualizations in one or more dimensions of psychological constructs, like attitudes, preferences, and abilities.

Nomogram of chemical concentrations in blood, showing the relations among over 20 components

Ideograph, a multivariate rectangular glyph, invented to display four variables and their relations (length and width of petals and sepals in iris flowers)

Electroencephalograph invented, to record electrical signals from the brain via galvanometers that measure electrical signals from electrodes on the scalp. EEGs were printed on multiple-pen, strip-chart recorders, with each channel showing the the amplitude from a given electrode.

Table of historical events drawn on logarithmic paper

"Log Square'' paper ($log y, log x$, for relations which are linear in log scales)

Standard statistical symbols (Neurath's Isotype method) established by government decree (for schools, public posters, etc.)

Re-design of the routes of the London underground rail system to favor usability

Lapse of interest in statistical graphics, as concern with formal, "precise'', and numerical methods gained ascendancy (the modern "dark ages'' of statistical graphics)cite{FriendlyDenis:2001:valois}.

First modern review of the early history of statistical graphics

Description of a memex, an associative information retrieval system which would help someone find information based in association and context rather than strict categorical indexing; conceptual creation of "hyperlink'' and the ''World Wide Web''

Harvard's Mark I, the first digital computer, put in service. Officially known as the "IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator'' (ASCC), the Mark I was 50 feet long and weighed about 5 tons.

Development of an electro-mechanical machine to aid in the rotation of multidimensional factor analysis solutions to "simple structure.'' This allowed an analyst to carry out by direct manipulation of dials what one did by plotting pairs of factors, and hand calculation of the rotation matrices in earlier times [(work carried out under the Adjutant General for development of the Armed Forces General Classification Test) cite{Tucker:2002}]