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COLOR KEY TO PRESENTATION OF UNDERSTANDABLE SCIENTIFIC DATA
The scientific establishment is drowning in data, but whether it is census data or the vast amounts of satellite and computer-generated information created every day, visual representation and the use of color can help scientists understand and extract important patterns from this deluge, according to a Penn State cartographer. “The smarter we are at mapping data, the more likely it is that we will see relationships,” says Cynthia Brewer, associate professor of geography. “We can look at complicated data using color intelligently and see these relationships and generate hypotheses,” she told attendees earlier this month at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver. Brewer and Mark Harrower, assistant professor of geography at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, have developed an online Web tool that can provide pre-designed color palettes for mapmakers. For the full story by A’ndrea Elyse Messer, visit