The Book of Trees in Japanese

During a sumptuous dinner last February in Shibuya, Tokyo, following a long visualization workshop, my welcoming hosts presented me with a gift: an exceptional book by Japanese researcher Minaka Nobuhiros, entitled Phylogeny Mandala: Chain, Tree, and Network.

I was immediately hooked. Published in the end of 2012, and including a few references to Visual Complexity: Mapping Patterns of Information, Philogeny Mandala is a well curated visual journey into the tree diagram and by far the closest book in scope to The Book of Trees: Visualizing Branches of Knowledge. This deduction is purely based on the association of images within the book, since unfortunately I’m not fluent in Japanese.

Minaka has been an avid scholar of phylogenetic diagrams, biological classification, and evolutionary science, as you can attest from the sheer number of books and papers showcased in his website. When I first discovered his work, I was extremely joyful for having found such a kindred spirit. Today, I’m very excited to announce that Minaka will be translating The Book of Trees to Japanese, to be published by BNN in 2015. I simply couldn’t hope for a more knowledgeable and qualified translator.