Abstract
The word scale derives from the Latin scala, or ladder. The Latin meaning is particularly apt for graphics. The visual representation of a scale — an axis with ticks — looks like a ladder. Scales are the types of functions we use to map varsets to dimensions. At first glance, it would seem that constructing a scale is simply a matter of selecting a range for our numbers and intervals to mark ticks. There is more involved, however. Scales measure the contents of a frame. They determine how we perceive the size, shape, and location of graphics. Choosing a scale (even a default decimal interval scale) requires us to think about what we are measuring and the meaning of our measurements. Ultimately, that choice determines how we interpret a graphic.
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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Wilkinson, L. (1999). Scales. In: The Grammar of Graphics. Statistics and Computing. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3100-2_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3100-2_9
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-3102-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-3100-2
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