The visualization of complex datasets has been something of a fascination dating back to my time as a researcher in a bioimaging laboratory. There, the works of Edward Tufte were considered required reading. One of the more interesting projects happening involved the visual display of complicated sets of MRI data using impressionist painting strokes. So I’m always on the lookout for interesting ways to show complex results in a clear and understandable manner.

The video below looks at a complex set of data — where do each of the 52 cards in a deck go when they are shuffled and offers a compelling visualization based on a computer model. There’s also an examination of the efficacy of other shuffling methods. Beatles fans will be sad to learn that the “Liverpool Shuffle” from A Hard Day’s Night is not included in the dataset.

David Crotty

David Crotty

David Crotty is a Senior Consultant at Clarke & Esposito, a boutique management consulting firm focused on strategic issues related to professional and academic publishing and information services. Previously, David was the Editorial Director, Journals Policy for Oxford University Press. He oversaw journal policy across OUP’s journals program, drove technological innovation, and served as an information officer. David acquired and managed a suite of research society-owned journals with OUP, and before that was the Executive Editor for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, where he created and edited new science books and journals, along with serving as a journal Editor-in-Chief. He has served on the Board of Directors for the STM Association, the Society for Scholarly Publishing and CHOR, Inc., as well as The AAP-PSP Executive Council. David received his PhD in Genetics from Columbia University and did developmental neuroscience research at Caltech before moving from the bench to publishing.

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