100 Diagrams That Changed the World: From the Earliest Cave Paintings to the Innovation of the iPod Hardcover – 30 Oct. 2012

This book is as advertised, but was disappointing to me. It's essentially an annotated list - a picture & a page of text for each item, mostly providing historical detail. I was hoping for an introductory discussion that went deeper into what makes for a world-changing diagram, with the exposition of each diagram then relating the specific case to the overall theme, and giving the reasons why it deserved to be in the top 100.. And, to be honest, I was hoping to pick up some pointers along the way on how I might improve diagrams of my own. The book does not set out to do this. It's for dipping into on the coffee table..

This is a book for curious readers, as it is limited to superficial explanations (generally less than one page long) about historical facts and inventions, which happen to be illustrated in the form of diagrams. The book has a good choice of diagrams, but a few are questionable, specially those about technological inventions. It tells a brief history of what each diagram refers to but not so much about the diagrammatic visualization of the ideas and the impact the diagrams themselves made in "the world." The book fails in putting the diagrams in a historical context about representational methods, it has little information about the diagrams themselves, and it does not include a bibliographic reference list to back it up.

I found it very inspiring and full of new information. The collection is numerous although the description of each diagram is just one page long. There are also some errors, like the inventor of the phone. I don't like the idea that the design of the iPod changed the world as much as Steam engine did, but ... overall it's a very nice book.

Good

Great range of diagrams organised chronologically with enough information about each one to be interesting.

Huge idea generator