GUTFREUND@UMASS-CS.CSNET ("Steven H. Gutfreund") (03/10/86)
I am looking for a reference. Is there some work that attempts to
produce a comprehensive study of graphical representation (schematics)
that are used by professionals. Examples would be architects, systems
analysts, industrial designers, and logistic planners. There are,
of course, civil engineers who actually go and construct scale models
of things like dams, etc, and conduct their analysis on them. But I
am looking for people who use 2-d and multidimensional paper schematics
for their analyses. Especially interesting are schematics which are not
just passive, but allow the user to carry out graphical analysis on
that chart. Something on the order of a fileVision, except that fileVision
only does data queries.
- Steven Gutfreund
gutfreund@umass-cs.csnet
[I doubt that there is a comprehensive survey, but there are some
partial ones. Woodworth's >>Graphical Simulation<< has a large
section on algebraic geometry, graphical methods for solving
differential equations, etc. I have seen books on nomograms and
a recent book (by James Martin?) on the flowcharts and other diagrams
used by programmers. Control theorists (but not the theoretical
ones!) use pole-zero charts and other graphical aids. Statisticians
use X-Bar/R charts to track quality control, Roman/Latin/etc. squares
to plan experiments, and occassionally dependency graphs to model
causal or correlational linkages. Logicians and circuit designers
use Venn diagrams and Karnaugh maps. There are books on visual thinking
and on graphs and other displays for information transfer. Two recent
books are >>The Elements of Graphing<< by William S. Cleveland and
>>The Visual Display of Quantitative Information<< by Edward R. Tufte.
Does anyone know of other particularly good surveys? -- KIL]