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1913 newspaper advertisement

A picture is worth a thousand wordsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" refers to the notion that a complex idea can beconveyed with just a single still image, or that an image of a subject conveys it's meaning/essence moreeffectively than a description does. It also aptly characterizes one of the main goals of visualization, namelymaking it possible to absorb large amounts of data quickly.

History

The expression "Use a picture. It's worth a thousand words." appears in a 1911 newspaper article quotingnewspaper editor Arthur Brisbane discussing journalism and publicity.[1]

A similar phrase, "One Look Is Worth A Thousand Words", appearsin a 1913 newspaper advertisement for the Piqua Auto SupplyHouse of Piqua, Ohio.[2]

An early use of the exact phrase appears in an 1918 newspaperadvertisement for the San Antonio Light, which says:

One of the Nation's Greatest Editors Says:

One Picture is Worth a Thousand WordsThe San Antonio Light's Pictorial Magazine of the WarExemplifies the truth of the above statement—judgingfrom the warm

reception it has received at the hands of the SundayLight readers.[3]

It is believed by some that the modern use of the phrase stems from an article by Fred R. Barnard in theadvertising trade journal Printers' Ink, promoting the use of images in advertisements that appeared on thesides of streetcars.[4] The December 8, 1921 issue carries an ad entitled, "One Look is Worth A ThousandWords."

Another ad by Barnard appears in the March 10, 1927, issue with the phrase "One Picture Worth TenThousand Words", where it is labeled a Chinese proverb. The Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims, andFamiliar Phrases quotes Barnard as saying he called it "a Chinese proverb, so that people would take itseriously." Soon after, the proverb would become popularly attributed to Confucius. The discussion of "OnePicture Worth Thousand Words" versus "One Picture Worth Ten Thousand Words" Wan yen I hua and10,000 miles worth 10,000 books is cited in information graphics where the concept of many in differentdisciplines and cultures.[5]

More recently it has been quoted as "One showing is worth a hundred sayings",[6] and was published in thatform as early as 1966 discussing persuasion and selling in a book on engineering design.[7]

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A picture is worth a thousand words

Despite this modern origin of the popular phrase, the sentiment hasbeen expressed by earlier writers. For example the Russian writerIvan Turgenev wrote (in Fathers and Sons in 1861), "The drawingshows me at one glance what might be spread over ten pages in abook."[8]

The quote is sometimes attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, who said"Un bon croquis vaut mieux qu'un long discours," or "A good sketchis better than a long speech". While this is sometimes translatedtoday as "A picture is worth a thousand words," this translation maynot predate the phrase's common use in English.

Computer programmer and author Fred Brooks makes an oppositestatement regarding programming in The Mythical Man­Month:"Show me your flowcharts and conceal your tables, and I shall continue to be mystified. Show me yourtables, and I won’t usually need your flowcharts; they’ll be obvious." The phrase has also been spoofed bycomputer scientist John McCarthy, to make the opposite point: "As the Chinese say, 1001 words is worthmore than a picture."[9]

References1. "Speakers Give Sound Advice". Syracuse Post Standard (page 18). March 28, 1911.2. "One Look Is Worth A Thousand Words". Piqua Leader­Dispatch (page 2). August 15, 1913.3. San Antonio Light (page 6). January 10, 1918.4. "The history of a picture's worth" (http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~hepting/research/web/words/history.html).

Retrieved 2008­07­12.5. Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Datenpräsentation durch Computergrafik im Umweltbereich

(http://independent.academia.edu/HeinerBenking/Papers/1775909/Moglichkeiten_und_Grenzen_der_Datenprasentation_durch_Computergrafik_im_Umweltbereich)

6. Watts, Alan. "The Way of Zen (http://books.google.com/books?id=PMEQKl8CTCgC&pg=PT220&lpg=PT220&dq=%22one+showing+is+worth+a+hundred+sayings%22+zen&source=bl&ots=sWNYY38EQ7&sig=2e0c3eo30kwK2J93SCYSJbQgG2Q&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LZoTUvXwGq3I4APo8ICgDQ&ved=0CGgQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22one%20showing%20is%20worth%20a%20hundred%20sayings%22%20zen&f=false)"

7. Thomas T. Woodson, Introduction to Engineering Design. McGraw­Hill, 1966 ­ Technology & Engineering –434 pages

8. Chapter 16: http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/ist/fas.htm#sons9. McCarthy, John. "The sayings of John McCarthy (1 March 2007)" (http://www­

formal.stanford.edu/jmc/sayings.html). Archived (http://web.archive.org/web/20071014051954/http://www­formal.stanford.edu/jmc/sayings.html) from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 2007­11­09.

Sources

The Dictionary of Clichés by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985).

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Categories: 1911 introductions Culture of Syracuse, New York English proverbs PhotographyVisualization (graphic)

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