How to Lie with Charts: Fourth Edition

Don’t blame the computers. People are running the show.

This is the new edition of the definitive textbook on data visualization. There’s added material on fake news and social media disinformation, misinterpretation of metadata, and the uses and abuses of Big Data. If you’re using a computer to generate charts for meetings and reports, you don’t have to be taught how to lie - you’re already doing it. You probably don’t know your charts are unreliable, and neither does your audience. So you’re getting away with it - until a manager or a sales prospect or an investor makes a bad decision based on the information that you were so helpful to provide. The main focus of How to Lie with Charts is on the principles of persuasive - and undistorted - visual communication. It’s about careful thinking and clear expression.