Edward Tufte was a statistician and artist, and Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Statistics, and Computer Science at Yale University.
He wrote, designed, and self-published 4 classic books on data visualization. Tufte was described by The New York Times as the "Leonardo da Vinci of data," and Bloomberg as the "Galileo of graphics." Known for his firm opinions, he is important in the fields of information design and visual literacy.
Even though his views were polarizing at the time, his work continues to influence and inform all fields related to data visualization and information design.
Beautiful Evidence by
Beautiful Evidence is about how seeing turns into showing, how empirical observations turn into explanations and evidence presentations. The book identifies excellent and effective methods for presenting information, suggests new designs, and provides tools for assessing the credibility of evidence presentations.Here we will see many close readings of serious evidence presentations-ranging through evolutionary trees and rocket science to economics, art history, and sculpture. Insistent application of the principles of analytical thinking helps both insiders and outsiders assess the credibility of evidence.
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by 
Envisioning Information by
This book celebrates escapes from the flatlands of both paper and computer screen, showing superb displays of high-dimensional complex data. The most design-oriented of Edward Tufte's books, Envisioning Information shows maps, charts, scientific presentations, diagrams, computer interfaces, statistical graphics and tables, stereo photographs, guidebooks, courtroom exhibits, timetables, use of color, a pop-up, and many other wonderful displays of information.
Visual Explanations by
Describes design strategies - the proper arrangement in space and time of images, words, and numbers - for presenting information about motion, process, mechanism, cause, and effect. Examines the logic of depicting quantitative evidence.
