Keller, member of the House of Representatives from Illinois, and Chairman of the House Committee on the Library of Congress, has been of great assistance in exploring the possibilities. Mr. Keller's unusual range of knowledge and experience in education, medicine, law, engineering, publishing, and mining, coupled with residence in Europe and Mexico, served in determining potentialities for not only a central file of graphic charts by types, but also a comprehensive file of graphic material arranged for quick reference and classified according to subject matter.

William Playfair, from his first book in 1786 throughout his writings to his death in 1823, mentioned the possibility that a graphic language could be an international language assisting in better relations between nations of different tongues. As this is written, with international conditions throughout the world unsettled and getting worse, there seems more than ever before a need for such a common graphic language as William Playfair envisioned.

WILLARD COPE BRINTON. New York City Sept. 6, 1939

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Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

Wh

hy have graphic methods been so tardy in developing? Three things in combination are necessary before visual methods of presentation can be adequately used.

1. Accurate factual data readily available.

2. Competent drafting talent to chart the data on a standardized basis.

3. Equipment and organization for reproducing the charted data at a cost not too high compared to the printed word.

Until mankind developed reasonably cheap paper, there was no convenient method for preserving quantitative data. The study

"One hundred rumors are not comparable to one look."