Charles_joseph_minard

Charles Joseph Minard (March 27, 1781 in Dijon – October 24, 1870 in Bordeaux) was a French civil engineer noted for his inventions in the field of information graphics.

Minard studied science and mathematics at the École Polytechnique.

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 (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) from which he retired in 1851, dedicating himself to private research thereafter.

Information graphics

Charles Minard\'s information graphic of Napoleon\'s March

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, an information graph published in 1869 on the subject of Napoleon\'s disastrous Russian campaign of 1812. 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 on the retreat)
• the low temperatures during the retreat.

Étienne-Jules Marey 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 calls it “the best statistical graphic ever drawn”Tufte, p. 40 and uses it as a prime example in The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Howard Wainer also identified this as a gem of information graphics, nominating it as the "World\'s Champion Graph" Wainer, Howard (1984). "How to Display Data Badly". American Statistician 38 (2): p 146 (pg 136–147). 

See also

• William Playfair
• John Snow (physician)

External links

• Translation of Minard obituary from Edward Tufte\'s site
• Background on Minard\'s graph including original sources
• The Graphic Works of Charles Joseph Minard by Michael Friendly.

References

• Friendly, M. (2002). Visions and re-visions of Charles Joseph Minard. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics. 27 (1), 31–52.
• Edward R. Tufte (2001). The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition, Graphics Press. ISBN 0961392142. 

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