a work by charles joseph minard
In the world of information design and data visualisation, this graph drawn by Charles Joseph Minard in 1869 appears as one of the great milestones and a reference to be taken into account. Even more so since Edward Tufte catalogued it as ‘the best statistical graph ever drawn’.
Minard’s visualisation is a graph showing the disastrous Russian campaign of the Napoleonic army in 1812. The greatness of his work lies in the fact that in a single visualisation he offers four levels of information:
- Geographical. It shows where the Napoleonic troops were advancing and where the main battles were taking place.
- Numerical. By showing the size of the troops both in figures and visually. The thickness of the strip of paint in which it is depicted makes it easy to see how the number of Napoleon’s troops was decreasing.
- Direction. The advance of the troops towards Moscow is shown in brown, while the retreat is shown in black.
- Weathering. At the bottom Minard added data on the temperature suffered by the retreating soldiers, which was the main cause of loss of life on the way back. It is the incorporation of this information that made it possible to establish this relationship and that takes the work to another level.
The excellence of this graphic lies precisely in having combined different dimensions in a single visualisation without making it difficult to read. On the contrary, its perfect composition resulted in a very interesting visualisation, which offers different levels of reading: global vision on a first level and richness of detail on second levels.
I always recommend my clients and students to apply the rule: one idea, one graphic. In this way, they are able to communicate more efficiently the results and data they want to convey. It is obvious that Minard not only failed to do this, but also achieved a magnificent result. But this is not always a simple task and if it is not done well the result can be chaotic; that is why it is one of the best visualisations in history.