Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Arbre généalogique: Static Image

We periodically get requests for a high resolution image of the splendid representation of the organization of knowledge in the Encyclopédie called ESSAI D'UNE DISTRIBUTION GÉNÉALOGIQUE DES SCIENCES ET DES ARTS PRINCIPAUX de Chrétien Frederic Guillaume Roth (1769), which we have put up under Zoomify. The static image is a 10 MB jpeg file, available here. Browsers beware. I like this image so much, I purchased a large reproduction and had it nicely framed. Yes, the framing cost more than the reproduction. Isn't that always the case? Manuel Lima mentions the Essai to his stunning array of visualizations at Visual Complexity, which is well worth the visit, and linked it to a modern interactive representation of the Système Figuré des Connaissances Humaines by Christophe Tricot. The Encyclopédie Collaborative Translation Project has released an English translation of the Système Figuré.