Description

Book Synopsis
Graphics made easy for technical and scientific authors

Gone are the days of relying on graphic artists to make your work clear and persuasive! This book arms you with all you need to know to conceptualize, create, and incorporate the type of quality graphs and graphics that will help get your scientific and technical papers published.

The authors, both senior staff members at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, provide straightforward guidance on all the steps to using graphs and graphics to make your case. Some of the useful things you''ll learn include:

  • What kind of graph to use to make what kind of case
  • Whether or not it is appropriate to connect the dots in a graph
  • Efficient ways to use a variety of PC software
  • How to embed artwork in a layout-and what to do if the graphic won''t fit
  • Why file format conversions are sometimes problematic
  • How

    Table of Contents

    Preface, ix

    1 Basics, 1

    What the Book Is About, 1

    Some Basics, 2

    Definitions, 3

    Guidelines, 5

    Summary, 31

    Exercises, 32

    2 Which Kind of Graph?, 35

    Choosing a Graph, 37

    Trend Plot, 37

    Stacked Trend, 40

    Pie Chart, 42

    Histogram and Bar Chart, 44

    Scatter Graphs, 48

    Showing Linearity, 50

    Regressions, 52

    Other Graphs, 54

    Summary, 60

    Exercises, 61

    3 Connecting the Dots, 63

    Example 1: Grouped Results, 66

    Example 2a: Different Parameters, 68

    Example 2b: Different Parameters, 70

    Example 3: Missing Data, 70

    Example 4: ATrend in Time, 72

    Example 5: Interaction with the Axis, 74

    Example 6: Histograms in All

    But Name, 75

    Example 7: Increasing Resolution, 77

    Example 8: Showing Noise, 78

    Example 9: Leader Lines, 80

    Summary, 81

    Exercises, 82

    4 The Nondata Parts of the Graph, 85

    Axes, 92

    Captions, 97

    Callouts, 100

    Summary, 105

    Exercises, 106

    5 Getting the Most Out of Your Software, 109

    Keyboard Shortcuts, 110

    Drawing Shortcuts, 111

    Line Shortcuts, 112

    Object Shortcuts, 115

    Lining Things Up, 119

    Snap-to-Grid is Your Friend (or Not), 122

    Saving Work by Copying, 122

    Layout Basics, 130

    Inserting Graphics into Microsoft Word, 135

    The Trick for Word, 136

    Inserting Graphics into

    WordPerfect, 139

    Summary, 141

    Exercises, 143

    6 Presentations or How to Succeed in Business, 145

    Purpose or Objective, 147

    Structure and Outline, 148

    Using a Summary, 148

    Storyboard, 149

    Putting the Presentation Together, 155

    Rules for Slides, 155

    Backgrounds, 163

    Putting the Software to Use, 166

    Starting the Talk, 167

    The Body of the Talk, 168

    Finishing the Talk, 170

    Etiquette, 171

    Summary, 171

    Exercises, 172

    7 An Introduction to Spreadsheets, 175

    Getting the Numbers, 176

    Scope of the Remaining Spreadsheet Chapters, 177

    Time Axes, 178

    Summary, 179

    8 Using Spreadsheets: Excel, 181

    Bar Charts, 181

    Histograms, 189

    Pie Charts, 191

    Scatter Graphs, 192

    Multiple Series, 196

    A Complicated Example, 200

    Inserting Data, 203

    Floating Bars, 204

    Multiple Type: Combining Trend and Histogram, 205

    Summary, 207

    Exercises, 208

    9 Using Spreadsheets: QuattroPro, 211

    Bar Charts, 211

    Histograms, 217

    Pie Charts, 219

    Scatter Graphs, 221

    Multiple Series, 226

    A Complicated Example, 229

    Inserting Data, 232

    Floating Bars, 233

    Multiple Type: Combining Trend and Histogram, 235

    Summary, 239

    Exercises, 240

    10 Fixes Using Graphics Programs, 241

    Getting the Graph into a Graphics Program, 241

    Maintaining Relationships, 243

    Fixing a Pie Chart, 249

    Some Excel/PowerPoint Tips, 251

    Some QuattroPro/Presentations Tips, 252

    Data Manipulation: The Carbon Dioxide Data, 253

    Scanning and Tracing, 259

    Tracing Example 1: Electron Velocity, 261

    Tracing Example 2: Rainfall and Audible Noise, 272

    Tracing Example 3: Investment Comparison, 274

    Summary, 276

    Exercises, 277

    11 Something Beginning with "P", 279

    Perspective, 279

    Perspective: The Technical Approach, 283

    Perspective: The Nontechnical Approach, 291

    Perspective: The Z Dimension, 293

    Patent Drawings, 294

    Basic Principles, 295

    What Must Be in Your Drawing, 295

    Peculiarities of Patent Drawings, 295

    Summary, 297

    Exercises, 298

    12 File Formats and Conversions, 299

    Conversion Problems, 299

    Two Questions, 300

    File Varieties, 301

    Back to the Two Questions, 305

    A File Taxonomy, 306

    A Sample File Format, 306

    Some Real Formats: A Quick Look, 309

    Filters, 311

    Summary, 316

    Exercises, 317

    13 Style Matters, 319

    Developing Your Own Style, 320

    Some (General) Alternatives, 323

    Your Options, 327

    Adapting Somebody Else’s Style, 327

    Some Advice, 329

    Summary, 329

    Exercises, 330

    14 Case Studies, 333

    Case Study Number 1: Voltage Regulator, 333

    Case Study Number 2: Baseball Performances, 334

    Case Study Number 3: Amplifier Performance, 336

    Case Study Number 4: Radio Communication in Ice, 338

    Case Study Number 5: Nucleotides in DNA, 343

    Case Study Number 6: The Graph Behind the MMR--Autism

    Controversy, 347

    Summary, 356

    Exercises, 357

    15 Summaries, 359

    Chapter 1: Basics, 359

    Chapter 2: Which Kind of Graph? 360

    Chapter 3: Connecting the Dots, 361

    Chapter 4: The Nondata Parts of the Graph, 362

    Chapter 5: Getting the Most Out of Your Software, 363

    Chapter 6: Presentations or How to Succeed in Business, 364

    Chapter 7: An Introduction to Spreadsheets, 365

    Chapter 8: Using Spreadsheets: Excel, 366

    Chapter 9: Using Spreadsheets: QuattroPro, 368

    Chapter 10: Fixes Using Graphics Programs, 369

    Chapter 11: Something Beginning with "P", 370

    Chapter 12: File Formats and Conversions, 371

    Chapter 13: Style Matters, 372

    Chapter 14: Case Studies, 373

    Index, 375

The Right Graph

    Product form

    £67.46

    Includes FREE delivery

    RRP £74.95 – you save £7.49 (9%)

    Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Mon 6 Jul 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Harold Kirkham, Robin C. Dumas

    1 in stock

      Trusted by thousands of customers. See 2,385+ Customer Reviews

      View other formats and editions of The Right Graph by Harold Kirkham

      Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
      Publication Date: 11/09/2009
      ISBN13: 9780470405475, 978-0470405475
      ISBN10: 0470405473

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Graphics made easy for technical and scientific authors

      Gone are the days of relying on graphic artists to make your work clear and persuasive! This book arms you with all you need to know to conceptualize, create, and incorporate the type of quality graphs and graphics that will help get your scientific and technical papers published.

      The authors, both senior staff members at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, provide straightforward guidance on all the steps to using graphs and graphics to make your case. Some of the useful things you''ll learn include:

      • What kind of graph to use to make what kind of case
      • Whether or not it is appropriate to connect the dots in a graph
      • Efficient ways to use a variety of PC software
      • How to embed artwork in a layout-and what to do if the graphic won''t fit
      • Why file format conversions are sometimes problematic
      • How

        Table of Contents

        Preface, ix

        1 Basics, 1

        What the Book Is About, 1

        Some Basics, 2

        Definitions, 3

        Guidelines, 5

        Summary, 31

        Exercises, 32

        2 Which Kind of Graph?, 35

        Choosing a Graph, 37

        Trend Plot, 37

        Stacked Trend, 40

        Pie Chart, 42

        Histogram and Bar Chart, 44

        Scatter Graphs, 48

        Showing Linearity, 50

        Regressions, 52

        Other Graphs, 54

        Summary, 60

        Exercises, 61

        3 Connecting the Dots, 63

        Example 1: Grouped Results, 66

        Example 2a: Different Parameters, 68

        Example 2b: Different Parameters, 70

        Example 3: Missing Data, 70

        Example 4: ATrend in Time, 72

        Example 5: Interaction with the Axis, 74

        Example 6: Histograms in All

        But Name, 75

        Example 7: Increasing Resolution, 77

        Example 8: Showing Noise, 78

        Example 9: Leader Lines, 80

        Summary, 81

        Exercises, 82

        4 The Nondata Parts of the Graph, 85

        Axes, 92

        Captions, 97

        Callouts, 100

        Summary, 105

        Exercises, 106

        5 Getting the Most Out of Your Software, 109

        Keyboard Shortcuts, 110

        Drawing Shortcuts, 111

        Line Shortcuts, 112

        Object Shortcuts, 115

        Lining Things Up, 119

        Snap-to-Grid is Your Friend (or Not), 122

        Saving Work by Copying, 122

        Layout Basics, 130

        Inserting Graphics into Microsoft Word, 135

        The Trick for Word, 136

        Inserting Graphics into

        WordPerfect, 139

        Summary, 141

        Exercises, 143

        6 Presentations or How to Succeed in Business, 145

        Purpose or Objective, 147

        Structure and Outline, 148

        Using a Summary, 148

        Storyboard, 149

        Putting the Presentation Together, 155

        Rules for Slides, 155

        Backgrounds, 163

        Putting the Software to Use, 166

        Starting the Talk, 167

        The Body of the Talk, 168

        Finishing the Talk, 170

        Etiquette, 171

        Summary, 171

        Exercises, 172

        7 An Introduction to Spreadsheets, 175

        Getting the Numbers, 176

        Scope of the Remaining Spreadsheet Chapters, 177

        Time Axes, 178

        Summary, 179

        8 Using Spreadsheets: Excel, 181

        Bar Charts, 181

        Histograms, 189

        Pie Charts, 191

        Scatter Graphs, 192

        Multiple Series, 196

        A Complicated Example, 200

        Inserting Data, 203

        Floating Bars, 204

        Multiple Type: Combining Trend and Histogram, 205

        Summary, 207

        Exercises, 208

        9 Using Spreadsheets: QuattroPro, 211

        Bar Charts, 211

        Histograms, 217

        Pie Charts, 219

        Scatter Graphs, 221

        Multiple Series, 226

        A Complicated Example, 229

        Inserting Data, 232

        Floating Bars, 233

        Multiple Type: Combining Trend and Histogram, 235

        Summary, 239

        Exercises, 240

        10 Fixes Using Graphics Programs, 241

        Getting the Graph into a Graphics Program, 241

        Maintaining Relationships, 243

        Fixing a Pie Chart, 249

        Some Excel/PowerPoint Tips, 251

        Some QuattroPro/Presentations Tips, 252

        Data Manipulation: The Carbon Dioxide Data, 253

        Scanning and Tracing, 259

        Tracing Example 1: Electron Velocity, 261

        Tracing Example 2: Rainfall and Audible Noise, 272

        Tracing Example 3: Investment Comparison, 274

        Summary, 276

        Exercises, 277

        11 Something Beginning with "P", 279

        Perspective, 279

        Perspective: The Technical Approach, 283

        Perspective: The Nontechnical Approach, 291

        Perspective: The Z Dimension, 293

        Patent Drawings, 294

        Basic Principles, 295

        What Must Be in Your Drawing, 295

        Peculiarities of Patent Drawings, 295

        Summary, 297

        Exercises, 298

        12 File Formats and Conversions, 299

        Conversion Problems, 299

        Two Questions, 300

        File Varieties, 301

        Back to the Two Questions, 305

        A File Taxonomy, 306

        A Sample File Format, 306

        Some Real Formats: A Quick Look, 309

        Filters, 311

        Summary, 316

        Exercises, 317

        13 Style Matters, 319

        Developing Your Own Style, 320

        Some (General) Alternatives, 323

        Your Options, 327

        Adapting Somebody Else’s Style, 327

        Some Advice, 329

        Summary, 329

        Exercises, 330

        14 Case Studies, 333

        Case Study Number 1: Voltage Regulator, 333

        Case Study Number 2: Baseball Performances, 334

        Case Study Number 3: Amplifier Performance, 336

        Case Study Number 4: Radio Communication in Ice, 338

        Case Study Number 5: Nucleotides in DNA, 343

        Case Study Number 6: The Graph Behind the MMR--Autism

        Controversy, 347

        Summary, 356

        Exercises, 357

        15 Summaries, 359

        Chapter 1: Basics, 359

        Chapter 2: Which Kind of Graph? 360

        Chapter 3: Connecting the Dots, 361

        Chapter 4: The Nondata Parts of the Graph, 362

        Chapter 5: Getting the Most Out of Your Software, 363

        Chapter 6: Presentations or How to Succeed in Business, 364

        Chapter 7: An Introduction to Spreadsheets, 365

        Chapter 8: Using Spreadsheets: Excel, 366

        Chapter 9: Using Spreadsheets: QuattroPro, 368

        Chapter 10: Fixes Using Graphics Programs, 369

        Chapter 11: Something Beginning with "P", 370

        Chapter 12: File Formats and Conversions, 371

        Chapter 13: Style Matters, 372

        Chapter 14: Case Studies, 373

        Index, 375

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