William Playfair

William Playfair (1759 to 1823) was a Scottish engineer and political economist, the founder of graphical methods of statistics. In 1786 he introduced the line, area and bar chart of economic data, and in 1801 he published what were likely the first pie chart and circle graph, used to show part whole relations. He argued that charts communicate better than tables of data, and his time series plots are still presented as models of clarity. Trained as an engine erector and draftsman, he became a personal assistant to James Watt at the Boulton and Watt works in Soho, then followed a restless career as a silversmith, banker, pamphleteer and journalist. His invention of the standard business charts puts him at the root of data and information visualization.