Making the invisible visible: early data display in the geological sciences
Richard J. Howarth · UCL Discovery (University College London) · 2009
The representation of numerical results in the form of a graph or thematic map rather than in tabular form is today commonplace, in the earth sciences as elsewhere, so it is hard to conceive that until about 1860 numerical results in geological publications were presented almost exclusively in tabular form, even by the leading scientists of the day. With the apparent exception of isoline (‘contour’) and point-symbol maps, frequency polygons, and the multivariate graphic symbols introduced by geochemists in 1897–1900, most graphical display methods now used in the earth sciences came from outside the field. Leading proponents of ‘the graphic method’ are briefly described and the origins of the stereographic projection, line graphs, time series plots, rosediagrams, the ternary diagram and multivariate symbols are discussed. Following the introduction of computers into universities (initially in the USA) after 1945, the time taken before earth scientists adopted new graphical methods was reduced abruptly