History of Pie Charts

7/22/2019 History of Pie Charts

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History of Pie Charts

The pie chart diagram dates all the way back to 1801 when William Playfair

produced a publication 'The Statistical Breviary' that contained the following

pie diagram:-

Looking at this early example we can that all the basics of pie chart are the

same today as they were over 200 years ago. The pie is split into segmentswhere the angle is proportional to the data item represented. Each segment

is colored although today colors used tend to be far more vibrant.

Although widely used today the pie chart was not immediately taken up.

Following William Playfair's publication the pie did not appear again until1858 when a French engineer Charles Joseph Minard began using pie charts

to represent an extra dimension to data.

There are today many variations of the pie chart including Polar AreaDiagrams, Spie Charts, Radial Charts, Exploded pie charts, 3D Pie Charts

and Doughnut Charts. However still the most common use is the simple piechart as depicted in these early examples.

Here is an example of a modern use of the pie chart used to display sales byregion. As can be seen the basic principles have not changed in over 200

years. A circle is divided into segments where each segment represents one


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piece of data. Each segment's angle is proportional to the value of the piece

of data. Here multiple pie charts are displayed in 3D mode.

A pie chart(or a circle graph) is acircularchartdivided intosectors,illustrating numericalproportion. In a pie chart, thearc lengthof each sector (and consequently itscentral angleand

area), isproportionalto the quantity it represents. While it is named for its resemblance to apie

which has been sliced, there are variations on the way it can be presented. The earliest known piechart is generally credited toWilliam Playfair'sStatistical Breviaryof 1801.

[1][2]

Pie charts are very widely used in the business world and the mass media.[3]

However, they have

been criticized,[4]

and many experts recommend avoiding them,[5][6][7][8]

pointing out that research

has shown it is difficult to compare different sections of a given pie chart, or to compare data

across different pie charts. Pie charts can be replaced in most cases by other plots such as thebarchart.

Contents[hide]

1 Example 2 Use, effectiveness and visual perception 3 Variants and similar charts

o 3.1 Exploded pie charto 3.2 Polar area diagram
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_lengthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_lengthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_lengthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_anglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_anglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_anglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportionality_(mathematics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportionality_(mathematics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportionality_(mathematics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Playfairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Playfairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Playfairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Spence2005-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Spence2005-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Spence2005-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Cleveland-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Cleveland-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Cleveland-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Wilkinson-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Wilkinson-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Wilkinson-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-tufte-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-tufte-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-sfew-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-sfew-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Examplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Examplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Use.2C_effectiveness_and_visual_perceptionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Use.2C_effectiveness_and_visual_perceptionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Variants_and_similar_chartshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Variants_and_similar_chartshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Exploded_pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Exploded_pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Polar_area_diagramhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Polar_area_diagramhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Polar_area_diagramhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Exploded_pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Variants_and_similar_chartshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Use.2C_effectiveness_and_visual_perceptionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Examplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-sfew-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-sfew-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-tufte-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-tufte-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Wilkinson-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Cleveland-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Spence2005-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-Spence2005-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Playfairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportionality_(mathematics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_anglehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_lengthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circular_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle


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o 3.3 Spie charto 3.4 Ring chart / Sunburst chart / Multilevel pie charto 3.5 3D pie chart / Perspective pie charto 3.6 Doughnut chart

4 History 5 Notes 6 References

Example[edit]

A pie chart for the example data.

The following example chart is based on preliminary results of theelection for the EuropeanParliament in 2004.The table lists the number of seats allocated to each party group, along with

the derived percentage of the total that they each make up. The values in the last column, thederived central angle of each sector, is found by multiplying the percentage by 360.

GroupSeatsPercent (%)Central angle ()

EUL 39 5.3 19.2

PES 200 27.3 98.4

EFA 42 5.7 20.7

EDD 15 2.0 7.4

ELDR 67 9.2 33.0

EPP 276 37.7 135.7

UEN 27 3.7 13.3

Other 66 9.0 32.5

Total 732 99.9* 360.2*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Spie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Spie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Ring_chart_.2F_Sunburst_chart_.2F_Multilevel_pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Ring_chart_.2F_Sunburst_chart_.2F_Multilevel_pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#3D_pie_chart_.2F_Perspective_pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#3D_pie_chart_.2F_Perspective_pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Doughnut_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Doughnut_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Noteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Noteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pie_chart&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pie_chart&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2004http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2004http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2004http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2004http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_United_Left%E2%80%93Nordic_Green_Lefthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_of_European_Socialistshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Free_Alliancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe_of_Democracies_and_Diversitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Liberal_Democrat_and_Reform_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_People%27s_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_for_Europe_of_the_Nationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pie_chart_EP_election_2004.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pie_chart_EP_election_2004.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pie_chart_EP_election_2004.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pie_chart_EP_election_2004.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_for_Europe_of_the_Nationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_People%27s_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Liberal_Democrat_and_Reform_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe_of_Democracies_and_Diversitieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Free_Alliancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_of_European_Socialistshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_United_Left%E2%80%93Nordic_Green_Lefthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2004http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament_election,_2004http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pie_chart&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Noteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Doughnut_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#3D_pie_chart_.2F_Perspective_pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Ring_chart_.2F_Sunburst_chart_.2F_Multilevel_pie_charthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#Spie_chart


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*Because of rounding, these totals do not add up to 100 and 360.

The size of each central angle is proportional to the size of the corresponding quantity, here thenumber of seats. Since the sum of the central angles has to be 360, the central angle for a

quantity that is a fraction Qof the total is 360Qdegrees. In the example, the central angle for the

largest group (European People's Party (EPP)) is 135.7 because 0.377 times 360, rounded to onedecimal place(s), equals 135.7.

Use, effectiveness and visual perception[edit]

An obvious flaw exhibited by pie charts is that they cannot show more than a few values without

separating the visual encoding (the slices) from the data they represent (typically percentages).

When slices become too small, pie charts have to rely on colors, textures or arrows so the readercan understand them. This makes them unsuitable for use with larger amounts of data. Pie charts

also take up a larger amount of space on the page compared to the more flexible alternative of

bar charts, which do not need to have separate legends, and can also display other values such as

averages or targets at the same time.[7]

An example of a pie chart with 18 values, having to separate the data from its representation. Note that

several values are represented with the same color, making interpretation difficult.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pie_chart&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pie_chart&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pie_chart&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-sfew-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-sfew-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-sfew-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piecharts.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piecharts.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Badpie.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Badpie.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piecharts.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piecharts.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Badpie.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Badpie.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piecharts.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piecharts.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Badpie.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Badpie.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piecharts.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piecharts.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Badpie.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Badpie.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_chart#cite_note-sfew-7http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pie_chart&action=edit&section=2


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Three sets ofdata plottedusing pie charts and bar charts.

Statisticiansgenerally regard pie charts as a poor method of displaying information, and they areuncommon in scientific literature. One reason is that it is more difficult for comparisons to bemade between the size of items in a chart when area is used instead of length and when different

items are shown as different shapes.

Further, in research performed atAT&T Bell Laboratories,it was shown that comparison by

angle was less accurate than comparison by length. This can be illustrated with the diagram to

the right, showing three pie charts, and, below each of them, the corresponding bar chartrepresenting the same data. Most subjects have difficulty ordering the slices in the pie chart by

size; when the bar chart is used the comparison is much easier.[9]

Similarly, comparisons between

data sets are easier using the bar chart. However, if the goal is to compare a given category (a

slice of the pie) with the total (the whole pie) in a single chart and the multiple is close to 25 or50 percent, then a pie chart can often be more effective than a bar graph.

[10][11]
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History of Pie Charts