The Art of Data Visualization

When I first started the youtube clip, "The Art of Data Visualization" I was confused as to what data visualization even meant. In the video, Edward Tufte discusses how design is about the relationship of the viewer and how they understand the content. While some art is created based on things imagined up in the mind of an artist, the art of data visualization needs to be based on true content. One of the more helpful and interesting examples given in the video, for me personally, is about Galileo using data visualization to chart solar system movements by creating a visual image of the data of where sun spots were at the time of his observation. This interested me because it helped me understand and realize what a big role data visualization has played in the advancements of science throughout history. I have observed lots of data visualizations without even really paying attention to or realizing that someone created this visual image based on the data and content be observed.