Day One of the Beyond Bootcamp information graphics workshop taught by Alberto Cairo and Xaquin G.V. has been much less scary than I’d first thought.

Cairo’s lecture has been a model of organized thought and progressive structure, which should come as no surprise to anyone, given the nature of his work.

What’s also obvious is that the man reads a heck of a lot. For every concept and example, he’s tossed off a different book title.

Here’s what he’s recommended to us so far, in no particular order:

• “How the Mind Works,” Steven Pinker (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
• “The Ghost Map,” Steven Johnson (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
• “Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge,” Edward O. Wilson (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
• “Wordless Diagrams,” Nigel Holmes (Amazon | BN | Powell’s | website | “Why Humor Helps Communication“)
• “Leonardo’s Notebooks” (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
• “Mr. Beck’s Underground Map” (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
• “Information Visualization: Perception for Design,” Colin Ware (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
• “Visual Thinking: for Design,” Colin Ware (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
• “Image and Mind,” Stephen Kosslyn (Amazon | BN | Powell’s)
• “Otto Neurath: The Language of Global Polis,” Nader Vossoughian (Amazon | BN | Powell’s | book review)

Photo: themacdiva/Flickr

Tagged: Alberto Cairo, Beyond Bootcamp, books, graphics, information graphics, visualization