Reader reviews

Genuinely excellent — I finished it in a week and immediately started again.

I have been working with data visualization for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. The chapters on data visualization are the strongest — the examples are stripped down but complete, and I could follow along without constant guessing. A few of the examples could be more realistic, but the underlying points come across clearly. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. An easy five stars from me. I look forward to whatever the author writes next.

I have read a lot of books on this subject and this is the clearest.

I was looking for something that would bridge the gap between tutorials and proper reference material, and this does that well. I appreciated the honesty about what the book does not cover — it saved me from expecting things that were not there. It is denser than the page count suggests, and I found myself slowing down around the middle. Worth the money and the reading time, without hesitation.

Good value. Not perfect, but I would buy another book from this author.

I bought this on a whim after seeing it mentioned in a forum thread, and I am glad I did. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. The early chapters move quickly through material I already knew, but the later sections were genuinely new to me. Four stars, and I suspect a second edition could easily push it to five.

A useful guide. The examples assume a particular environment, but that is fixable.

I have been working with graphics for a few years now and I still found plenty here that was new to me. Some of the material is available elsewhere, but rarely presented this clearly. A couple of chapters felt like they could have been merged, but that is a minor complaint. The examples are small enough to type out and experiment with, which is exactly what I want from a book like this. Worth picking up if you already have the basics. Set realistic expectations and you will get a lot out of it.

A useful guide. The examples assume a particular environment, but that is fixable.

I had been on the fence about this one for a while, and I should have bought it sooner. The writing is direct and does not waste space on filler, which I value in a technical book. I found myself making notes in the margins, which is always a good sign. Good value for the price and worth the time it takes to work through properly.