“The acme of graphic work”

You think you work hard tweaking your d3 code? Spend a lot of time formatting stuff in Tableau to get it just right? How about this:

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This approach is described by Brinton as “the acme of graphic work when there are two independent variables.

How to build this? Simple. All you need is plyboard, wires, plaster of Paris, sandpaper, and a lot of patience.

After 3 pages of description of the method of creation of these, Brinton says: “It is to be regretted that these methods of presentation involve so much labor that they cannot be used as frequently as desired”. True. 100 years later technology enables to make these very easily. Is that a good or bad thing? I’m not sure.

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(image from www.arction.com)

(BTW – did you even know that “acme” was a word? I didn’t – I just thought it was Wile E Coyote’s favourite company)

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