Customer Rating: 
Summary: So you thought you knew how to envision information...
Comment: I recieved this book along with the most excellent (almost a companion book) Visual Display of Quantitative Information, from my CEO. Since I work a lot with numbers and he had been stressing the importance of presenting data clearly and concisely.
I feel that, this book, more than being a guide to envisioning information is a book to appreciate charts.
Very beatifully produced, and a book which must reside on the bookshelf of any person working with numbers and information
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Fleshes out and expands the work Tufte has done on presenting information
Comment: "Envisioning Information" by Edward Tufte further fleshes out and expands the work he has done on presenting information. This volume is best suited for designers of complex information such as maps or schedules. As with his other books, it is richly illustrated with many colorful examples of well and poorly designed information displays.
This is a good book to get one thinking about information displays, but putting them into practice is more challenging. Although much of what Tufte criticizes in displays could be considered "nitpicking," his points do have merit, albeit very difficult to put into practice with one's own work that does not model his examples. Personally, I do not agree with all of his criticisms as what is considered ideal, is to an extent, subjective.
There are also some personal opinions that he could have left out of the book. For example, the author uses the example of Digton rock to show how people viewing the rock had various perceptions (p. 73). Wonderful. However, from there he throws in his mockery by dismissing its origin as being anything other than Native-American. He goes on to state, "such logic places the Vikings far inland, deep into what is now West Virginia and Ohio" and this is a "scholarship of wishful thinking." Personally, I think it is more a scholarship of wishful thinking to pick one idea and rule out any other possibility. Again, this opinion has nothing to do with information displays, and does not help the reader learn about presenting material.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Definitive Reference
Comment: I keep this book close by in my office. I find it a very useful reference book for visually showing students HOW TO and how NOT TO DO information design. The examples in this book are well selected and organized.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice Pictures
Comment: This wasn't the easiest book to read. Tufte spends a bit too much energy attempting to make the tone of the book academic, rather than getting to the point. The concepts are pretty simplistic though, once you do absorb the information. There are some interesting illustrations. All in all, I wouldn't reccomend this for casual rading.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Second Coming of the Prophet of Presentation
Comment: In "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information", Edward Tufte put forth a theory of graphical excellence which taught his disciples how to present complex data crisply, clearly, and concisely while preserving data integrity. With "Envisioning Information", Tufte tackles a bolder objective: displaying multi-dimensional data effectively within the two-dimensional space of paper or screen. To do this, Tufte employs his successful formula from "Visual Display"---outlining the general concepts of his theory and illustrating these principles with many and varied examples. Tufte's approach to "escaping Flatland" (as he calls it) is simple but richly-illustrated: - Employing the concept of micro/macro readings to add resolution to data displays, conveying more information in a smaller space - Using layering and separation to foster comprehension of multivariate data - Utilizing small multiples to convey change over time - Leveraging color to convey information - Weaving narratives of space and time The effect upon the reader is staggering and transformative. Tufte has revised and extended his theory of graphical excellence with a handful of simple yet powerful techniques for improving our presentation graphics. Anyone involved in graphics design or in the communication of complex information should have this book on his shelf---it is simply too valuable to keep having to borrow it from your public library.
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