Review: Knowledge is Beautiful

Knowledge is Beautiful by David McCandless
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Most of us have heard the term ‘Death by Powerpoint’. In my experience this is due primarily to the amount of words that are packed into a slide as well as the amount of slides in the typical presentation. ‘Knowledge is Beautiful’ takes a different approach by illustrating information using graphical approaches such as graphs, images and abstract objects.

I spent over an hour going through this book. Some pages take time to understand and absorb. Others have obvious meanings that jump off the page. It (and McCandless’ other book Information is Beautiful) can be used as a coffee table book where you can pick a page and have an in-depth conversation with friends. Furthermore I will be using this book to help represent data in presentations and discussions in the business world. Highly recommend this book as a hard cover purchase (not via an e-book purchase).

My three key takeaways:
1. Information presented graphically can enhance and drive a message home exponentially better than via words. We have heard the phase ‘a picture speaks a thousand words’
2. Powerpoint / Keynote presentations can be so much better
3. The world has some issues that need fixing. It is all in the data and how it is presented. Climate change is a key example
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