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Charles Joseph Minard (27 March 1781 – 24 October 1870 in Bordeaux
Bordeaux

is a Port city on the Garonne in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its aire urbaine at a 2008 estimate. It is the Capital of the Aquitaine regions of France, as well as the Prefectures in France of the Gironde Departments of France....
) was a French civil engineer
Civil engineer

A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering, one of the many engineering professions. Originally a civil engineer worked on public works projects and was contrasted with the military engineer, who worked on armaments and defenses....
 noted for his inventions in the field of information graphics
Information graphics

Information graphics or infographics are visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics are used where complex information needs to be explained quickly and clearly, such as in information sign, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education....
.

rd was born in Dijon
Dijon

Dijon is a communes of France in eastern France, the capital of the C?te-d'Or Departments of France and of the Bourgogne Regions of France. Dijon is the historical capital of the provinces of France of Burgundy ....
 and studied science and mathematics at the École Polytechnique
École Polytechnique

The ?cole Polytechnique , often referred to by the nickname X, is the foremost France grande ?cole of engineering . Founded in 1794 and initially located in the Quartier Latin in central Paris, it was moved to Palaiseau in 1976....
, then civil engineering at École nationale des ponts et chaussées
École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées

Founded in 1747, the ?cole nationale des ponts et chauss?es , often referred to as les Ponts. It remains to this day one of the most prestigious France Grandes ?coles of engineering....
.

After working as a civil engineer on dam, canal and bridge projects throughout Europe for many years, he was appointed superintendent of the École nationale des ponts et chaussées
École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées

Founded in 1747, the ?cole nationale des ponts et chauss?es , often referred to as les Ponts. It remains to this day one of the most prestigious France Grandes ?coles of engineering....
 (School of Bridges and Roads) in 1830, a position he held until 1836.






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Charles Joseph Minard (27 March 1781 – 24 October 1870 in Bordeaux
Bordeaux

is a Port city on the Garonne in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its aire urbaine at a 2008 estimate. It is the Capital of the Aquitaine regions of France, as well as the Prefectures in France of the Gironde Departments of France....
) was a French civil engineer
Civil engineer

A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering, one of the many engineering professions. Originally a civil engineer worked on public works projects and was contrasted with the military engineer, who worked on armaments and defenses....
 noted for his inventions in the field of information graphics
Information graphics

Information graphics or infographics are visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics are used where complex information needs to be explained quickly and clearly, such as in information sign, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education....
.

Biography

Minard was born in Dijon
Dijon

Dijon is a communes of France in eastern France, the capital of the C?te-d'Or Departments of France and of the Bourgogne Regions of France. Dijon is the historical capital of the provinces of France of Burgundy ....
 and studied science and mathematics at the École Polytechnique
École Polytechnique

The ?cole Polytechnique , often referred to by the nickname X, is the foremost France grande ?cole of engineering . Founded in 1794 and initially located in the Quartier Latin in central Paris, it was moved to Palaiseau in 1976....
, then civil engineering at École nationale des ponts et chaussées
École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées

Founded in 1747, the ?cole nationale des ponts et chauss?es , often referred to as les Ponts. It remains to this day one of the most prestigious France Grandes ?coles of engineering....
.

After working as a civil engineer on dam, canal and bridge projects throughout Europe for many years, he was appointed superintendent of the École nationale des ponts et chaussées
École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées

Founded in 1747, the ?cole nationale des ponts et chauss?es , often referred to as les Ponts. It remains to this day one of the most prestigious France Grandes ?coles of engineering....
 (School of Bridges and Roads) in 1830, a position he held until 1836. He became an inspector in the Corps des Ponts
Corps of Bridges and Roads (France)

The Corps of Bridges is a French Civil Service#Great corps of the State. It is formed of the State Engineers of the Bridges.People entering the Corps are educated at the ?cole Nationale des Ponts et Chauss?es....
 (Corps of Bridges and Roads) from which he retired in 1851, dedicating himself to private research thereafter.

Work

Minard

Information graphics

Minard was a pioneer of the use of graphics in engineering and statistics. He is famous for his Carte figurative des pertes successives en hommes de l'Armée Française dans la campagne de Russie 1812-1813, a flow map
Flow map

Flow maps in cartography are a mix of maps and flow charts, that show the movement of objects from one location to another, such as the number of people in a migration, the amount of goods being traded, or the number of packets in a network....
 published in 1869 on the subject of Napoleon's disastrous Russian campaign of 1812
French invasion of Russia (1812)

The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign reduced the First French Empire and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength....
. The graph displays several variables in a single two-dimensional image:
  • the army's location and direction, showing where units split off and rejoined
  • the declining size of the army (note e.g. the crossing of the Berezina river
    Battle of Berezina

    The Battle of Berezina took place November 26-November 29, 1812 between the French army of Napoleon, retreating after Napoleon's invasion of Russia and crossing the Berezina river , and the Russian armies under Mikhail Kutuzov, Peter Wittgenstein and Admiral Pavel Chichagov....
     on the retreat)
  • the low temperatures during the retreat.


Étienne-Jules Marey
Étienne-Jules Marey

?tienne-Jules Marey was a France scientist and Chronophotography, born in Beaune, France.His work was significant in the development of cardiology, physical instrumentation, aviation, cinematography and the science of labor photography....
 first called notice to this dramatic depiction of the terrible fate of Napoleon's army in the Russian campaign, saying it "defies the pen of the historian in its brutal eloquence". Edward Tufte
Edward Tufte

Edward Rolf Tufte is an American statistician and Professor Emeritus of statistics, information design, interface design and political economy at Yale University....
 calls it "the best statistical graphic ever drawn" and uses it as a prime example in The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. And Howard Wainer also identified this as a gem of information graphics, nominating it as the "World's Champion Graph".

See also

  • Pie chart
    Pie chart

    A pie chart is a circle chart divided into Circular sectors, illustrating relative magnitude or frequencies. In a pie chart, the arc length of each sector , is proportionality to the quantity it represents....
  • William Playfair
    William Playfair

    William Playfair was a Scottish engineer and political economist, who is considered the founder of statistical graphics.William Playfair invented four types of diagrams: in 1786 the line chart and bar chart of economic data, and in 1801 the pie chart and circle graph, used to show part-whole relations....
  • John Snow (physician)
    John Snow (physician)

    John Snow was a British physician and a leader in the adoption of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered to be one of the fathers of epidemiology, because of his work in tracing the source of a 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak....


Further reading

  • Michael Friendly
    Michael Friendly

    Michael Lewis Friendly is a Professor of Psychology at York University in Ontario, Canada, and an Associate Coordinator with the Statistical Consulting Service....
     (2002). Visions and re-visions of Charles Joseph Minard.     Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics. 27 (1), 31–52.


External links

  • from Edward Tufte
    Edward Tufte

    Edward Rolf Tufte is an American statistician and Professor Emeritus of statistics, information design, interface design and political economy at Yale University....
    's site
  • by Michael Friendly.