The Right Graph: A Manual for Technical and Scientific Authors

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 to edit diagrams for different end-uses Tips on how to get the best results without spending excessive time Real-world examples illustrate good (and bad) uses of graphs, and problem sets are included at the end of each chapter. If you're technically adept but not trained in document design, this book is an indispensable treasure trove of knowledge for making your papers publishable, your viewgraphs enjoyable, and your patents understandable.

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

About the Author :
Harold Kirkham, PhD, is an engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and has published more than fifty peer-reviewed papers and reports. Robin C. Dumas is an IT manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She has a background in computers as well as graphic design and has won several awards from the Society for Technical Communication.