Data is Everywhere and these books will change the way you see it!

by Jo Boaler
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5 books
No one needs reminding that we now live in a data-filled world, and that to function effectively in the world we need to be able to make sense of data. But if you think being data literate is all about being comfortable with numbers, these books will make you think again. Not only do the books show that data is a multimodal representation of the world, they will help you see differently, uncovering a more complex and interesting world.
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Dear Data

Giorgia Lupi, Stefanie Posavec, 2016
This was the book that first helped me see the beauty in data and the multitude of ideas that can be represented with data. The book shares a beautiful collaboration between two information designers, Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec, who lived in New York and London respectively. They each decided that every week, for a year, they would mail a postcard to each other, that had a data visual on one side, and a key on the other. The data they collected came from their lives and show the variety of questions that can be answered by data, (concerning, for example mirrors, goodbyes, clocks or complaints), and the various, creative, and beautiful ways that data can be displayed.

Data Feminism

Catherine D'Ignazio, Lauren F. Klein, 2023
Data Feminism is an awareness raising book that is also a call to action, showing all the ways that women have been left out of data sets and what that means for the patterns in the world. The authors do a great job of examining not just gender patterns but the intersectional nature of oppression, pointing out that data is power! It is brilliantly argued and thoroughly entertaining.

Knowledge Is Beautiful

Impossible Ideas, Invisible Patterns, Hidden Connections--Visualized
David McCandless, 2014
This book does just what the title suggests, it shares many forms of knowledge in the world through visualized data, underscoring the creativity nature of many data visualizations. The data visuals chosen are funny, entertaining, informative and thought provoking and the book is a visual delight. This is another boundary pushing book that uses data to raise awareness, and to educate.

Storytelling with Data

A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals
Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, 2015
In this book, the author, who has worked in business for many years, and now works at Google, shares his insights on the ways we can most effectively use data in work and life. He makes a good case for why we all need to use and understand data visuals in today’s world and shares five key lessons that are illustrated with helpful case studies. The book includes advice on colors, contexts, visual displays, clutter, and more.

Making with Data

Physical Design and Craft in a Data-Driven World
Samuel Huron, Till Nagel, Lora Oehlberg, Wesley Willett, 2022
This book shares the ways artists - and creators more generally - are using data to produce artwork, sculptures, spaces and experiences. The book highlights different artists who turn data into stunning physical forms, capturing, for example tidal patterns, snowfall, or greenhouse gas emissions, representing them beautifully as wooden sculptors, ropes and blankets. This book takes introduces us to 3-dimensional, physical formations that convey feelings as well as the variability captured by data.