Book cover of From Hieroglyphics to Isotype: A Visual Autobiography

Book description

From 1943 until his death in December 1945, Austrian sociologist Otto Neurath worked tirelessly on numerous versionsof an innovative visual autobiography entitled From Hieroglyphics to Isotype. Now, sixty-five years later, comes the first publication of his full text, carefully edited from the original manuscripts. This edition highlights the important role…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked From Hieroglyphics to Isotype as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This book offers a beautiful data portrait of one of the most energetic polyglots of the first half of the twentieth century. Otto Neurath is famous among philosophers for his monumental effort to unify the sciences in an encyclopedic presentation. His metaphor of science as a massive flotilla out at sea repairing itself as it goes beautifully encapsulates the self-correcting enterprise of the sciences. This book offers another angle into Neurath’s life and work. Isotype was conceived by Neurath and collaborators as a universal picture language that can transcend borders, tongues, and divisions. Another grand dream of early-twentieth-century unification, with…

From Colin's list on data ethics (and data politics).

If you love From Hieroglyphics to Isotype...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like From Hieroglyphics to Isotype?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 5 books like From Hieroglyphics to Isotype.

Browse books like From Hieroglyphics to Isotype

Book cover of W. E. B. Du Bois's Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America
Book cover of Exposed: Desire and Disobedience in the Digital Age
Book cover of Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,340

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like From Hieroglyphics to Isotype, you might also like...

Book cover of Foxfire in the Snow

Foxfire in the Snow by J.S. Fields,

It's a time of change, between magic and alchemy.

Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…

Book cover of The Main Gate

The Main Gate by Yvonne Kjorlien,

Dr. Elise Marquette has spent years burying the past—until the past refuses to stay buried.

Hired to join Earth’s first interstellar contact team, she hopes the vastness of space will finally offer distance from the ghosts of war and the wounds left by a mother who never let her be…

2 book lists we think you will like!