The Minard System

The Complete Statistical Graphics of Charles-Joseph Minard

Sandra Rendgen

• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781616896331
• eBook ISBN: 9781616897871

If you have any interest in information graphics, maps, or history, you know of the seminal flow map of Napoleon's 1812 march into Russia by Charles-Joseph Minard, made famous by Edward Tufte, and considered to be one of the most magnificent data graphics ever produced. The Minard System explores the nineteenth-century civil engineer's career and the story behind this masterpiece of multivariate data, as well as sixty of Minard's other statistical graphics reflecting social and economic changes of the Industrial Revolution in Europe and around the world. These stunning drawings are from the collection of the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris and have never before been published in their entirety.

Catalog of Statistical Graphics

1

Paris Pavement Maintenance

“Tableau chronologique de l’entretien du pavé de Paris”

No date. Lithographic print, hand-colored. 41.5 × 26.0 cm. Published in: Tableau des progrès de la dépense du pavé de Paris pendant les deux derniers siècles (Paris, 1825)

This diagram accompanies a pamphlet about the maintenance of the Paris pavement from 1632 to 1820. Minard described it as a “visual register” that he drew “in order to better grasp all the circumstances of the maintenance.” ¹ The colored graphs visualize several metrics Minard calculated by drawing from historical contracts. The yellow graph indicates the total pavement surface area in Paris, while the blue one shows the total maintenance expenditures per annum. The vertical axis is not labeled; instead, readers have to make do with horizontal scales provided for each graph in the top left section. Punctuated graphs indicate a lack of data sources. The diagram reveals a pattern break after the Revolution of 1789, when the maintenance budget (blue) nosedived for several years. At the same time, the average maintenance price per square meter (rose) grew because the pavement gradually wore out.

MINARD TRANSLATED

Chronological table of Paris pavement maintenance

The horizontal line of the abscissae represents the years and each ordinate indicates the surface area or the corresponding expenditure. Dotted lines were used where information was unavailable. Using the scales above, the reader can find the numerical value of each ordinate.

2

Major Canals and Railroads in England

“Principaux canaux et railways d’Angleterre en concurrence”

1844. Lithographic print. 52.5 × 66.9 cm. Published in: Des conséquences du voisinage des chemins de fer et des voies navigables (Paris: Fain et Thunot, 1844)

This map shows English waterways and railroads and was published in a brochure that discussed the relationship between existing canals and new railroad routes. The booklet contained many data tables to support Minard’s argument that railroads should be built along valleys, i.e., in the vicinity of existing canals. Like the majority of his maps, this work is reduced to the absolute minimum of graphic means: England’s coastlines are barely distinguishable, and the inner landscape is not depicted at all except for a number of location names and a tangle of traffic routes.

3

Circulation on Several Railroads

“Tableaux figuratifs de la circulation de quelques chemins de fer”

May 1844. Lithographic print. 43.4 × 33.7 cm. Published in: Des tableaux graphiques et des cartes figuratives (Paris, 1861)

This is Minard’s earliest tableau graphique. He was convinced that new railroad lines should not just serve their two end destinations, but also foster regional traffic between towns along the route.² Here he analyzed the traffic on several Belgian and French lines. The height of each bar represents the number of passengers traveling along that section, while the width shows the relative distance. The light hachures denominate the passengers per section, while the dark hachures refer to passengers who traveled the full distance. Minard notes that the traffic is shown “in one single direction”; however, there is no indication which direction he means.

4

Circulation of Passengers Between Dijon and Mulhouse

“Carte de la circulation des voyageurs par voitures publiques sur les routes de la contrée où sera placé le chemin de fer de Dijon à Mulhouse”

March 1845. Lithographic print, hand-tinted. 71.0 × 45.3 cm. Published in: Des tableaux graphiques et des cartes figuratives (Paris, 1861)

In this revolutionary map, created in the middle of a debate about where to project the railroads between Dijon and Mulhouse in eastern France, Minard analyzed the street traffic on preexisting roads in the region. It is the first time that he implemented the flow map method. The width of each section indicates how many passengers annually traveled on the street. The map itself is extremely stripped down; it features barely any landscape details other than a network of local place names and rivers. The graphic survived in two versions: In the earlier one, the flow is colored in one tint only. Later, Minard differentiated between passengers who traveled on only one section of the road (darker tint) and those who traveled longer distances (lighter tint).

MINARD TRANSLATED

Circulation of travelers by public carriage on the roads of the region in which the Dijon–Mulhouse railroad will be built

The width of the zones represents the number of travele...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Contents
• Preface: The Story Behind the Masterpiece
• Introduction: The Minard System: A Geography of Flux
• Catalog of Statistical Graphics
• Appendices
• Notes
• Bibliography
• List of Figures
• Index
• Acknowledgments
• Copyright
• About the Author