Setting out from Berlin 1796

Family meeting…

Rene: Berlin has limits, but London… it’s buzzing with ships, trade, and opportunity for an underwriter.
Father: Clearly, nothing we can say will dissuade you. And this… Lloyds, you say, will be your base?
Rene: A coffee shop. It’s where all the shipping news is daily shared. 
Mother: I still worry about highwaymen.
Rene: Berlin to Hamburg by carriage, then sail across the North Sea to London. The sea journey is long but safer.
Sarah: And what if soldiers stop you, getting suspicious of travelers amid all the unrest?
Rene: I have proper papers, explaining my journey as a merchant.
Father: And lodging? London isn’t kind to newcomers without a roof over their heads.
Rene: I’ve heard of cheap rooms near the docks where many sailors and traders stay. It’s humble but close to the action.
Genevieve: It’s brave of you to try. Better a life of risks and chances than one of waiting. I wish I were a man.
Father: Just mind your pockets on the road and your wits in the city.
Rene: I’ll keep my pockets tight and my wits sharper.
__________
Voice-over
The family wishes Rene well and sister Genevieve hopes that London can change his destiny and perhaps hedge the family fortune in these troubled Napoleonic times.

Graphing and Mapping 1812

Clément and Minard discuss Napoleon’s Russian campaign…

Clément: How would you tell the story?

Napoleon's losses on the
Russian Campaign 1812

Minard: Graph it. 
Months on the independent variable. Soldier deaths the dependent. Numbers are dramatic. Simple.

Clément: OK, so that’s the What, When, Who. What about the Where? Where does the where go?

Minard: Hmm.

Clément: And the whys? The temperatures, Moscow deserted, Berezina river crossing, these all decimated Napoleon’s army.

Minard: Oui. Comment à ce sujet? We use a line of decreasing size, east to west and back. Splits and rejoins. Dates plotted. Weather temperatures falling along the retreat.

Clément: Magnifique!
___________

Voice-over

Beginning from a simple account of numbers a story is built. And told on a graph.

Charles Minard did it brilliantly in 1869. He puts “art” in the chart.

Edward Tufte says it "may well be the best statistical graphic ever drawn."

See a short film about visual graphics at http://youtu.be/fp8gmYE8Xuo

What is your opinion about the design of visual graphics?

Figurative map of French Army losses
on the 1812 Russian Campaign

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