An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

PLAYFAIR, William

1 entries
  • 8148

The statistical breviary; shewing, on a principle entirely new, the resources of every state and kingdom in Europe; illustrated with stained copperplate charts, representing the physical powers of each distinct nation with ease and perspicuity. To which is added, a similar exhibition of the ruling powers of Hindoostan.

London: Printed by T. Bensley for J. Wallis, 1801.

In this work Playfair invented the pie chart. It has also been suggested that Playfair, often short of funds, may have colored the charts in all the copies himself—the process he characterized as "staining" in the title. Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Pie chart from Playfair's Statistical Breviary (1801), showing the proportions of the Turkish Empire located in Asia, Europe and Africa before 1789



Subjects: DEMOGRAPHY / Population: Medical Statistics, DEMOGRAPHY / Population: Medical Statistics › Graphic Display of, GRAPHIC DISPLAY of Medical & Scientific Information