I have read the 2017 version.
Summary
In search of inspiration to improve the designs of my data vizzes, I have decided to pick this book. The book, as its title suggests, is a visual feast of circle diagrams after circle diagrams. The collection of circular information designs is mind-blowing regarding how much effort and depth the creators have to go to create a single complex circular chart with multiple data points. Unfortunately, reading the e-book version on my laptop screen may not have allowed me to see the vizzes in their full beauty like reading a book in print.
An abstract to the book as "why do we find circles beautiful?" can be read here.
Things I like
1. An extensive variety of vizzes relative to other books on data viz. The book is full of coloured images of circular diagrams from different times of history. From hand-drawn circle charts to computer-generated spherical visual displays, the book brings readers through different families of circular info designs. It will provide some inspiration for data artists and designers looking to refresh their minds from a block.
Final Verdict: Mainly a pictorial book about circle diagrams that serve as an inspiration to data and information visual artists and designers.
Although this paragraph goes beyond the book content, it has gotten me thinking about circular visuals. I think that despite breaking some design principles of visualisation, many seem to enjoy circle diagrams outside of pie charts. Circular charts with dense data points may be aesthetical, but they are not easily deciphered, especially if they are non-interactive (i.e. in print or online without interactive function). What difference does it make when a good-looking spherical data viz provides as much as a well-made pie chart? Perhaps, as long as both serve their purposes well and are liked by their target audience, they deserve a place in data visualisation.