I agree. Infographics and the like are a cancer to the graphics world. I want data in its most simplest form, digest it using simple semiology and graphical gra

I agree. Infographics and the like are a cancer to the graphics world. I want data in its most simplest form, digest it using simple semiology and graphical grammer and move on. I find Cleveland et. al (Visualizing Data), Jacques Bertin (Semiology of Graphics) and Leland Wilkinson (Grammar of Graphics) much more 'scientific' in their approach than Tufte. Reading Tufte's books is akin to reading Josef Alber's - Interaction of Colors, which btw is the gospel of color theory amongst artists and designers: They provide interesting view of the problem but not the solution to the problem. They are coffee table books in my opinion - bedazzling and extremely interesting but useless in practice. Read Edwin Land (Kodak scientist) if you want to understand color theory.