← CSC 123 Introduction to Community Action Computing

Lab activity — Napoleon in Russia

If you’re enrolled in my class, this assignment has a submission required in Canvas.

In 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte and his Grand Army invaded Russia. It was a disaster: 420,000 soldiers set out from Poland; only 100,000 reached Moscow; only 10,000 returned.

The figure below was created in 1861 by Charles Minard, a French civil engineer. It is considered one of the most famous data visualisations ever created. In this activity we’re going to examine this figure and think about the different types of data being depicted. The figure below is the original, shown for the sake of accuracy. But since it’s in French, an English version is beneath it with slightly clearer text.

Charles Minard's 1869 statistical graphic depicting Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia. The visualization uses a flow map where band width represents army size. A tan band begins at the Polish-Russian border with 422,000 soldiers, splitting and narrowing as the army advances northeast toward Moscow, arriving with approximately 100,000 men. A black band traces the retreat route, showing devastating losses correlated with plummeting temperatures displayed in a line graph below. The temperature scale shows degrees below freezing (Réaumur scale), dropping to -30°. Geographic locations are labeled along the routes, including the Niemen River, Vilna, Smolensk, and Moscow. The graphic demonstrates the catastrophic human cost of the campaign, with only 10,000 soldiers returning.

Charles Minard's 1869 statistical graphic depicting Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia. The visualization uses a flow map where band width represents army size. A grey band begins at the Polish-Russian border with 422,000 soldiers, splitting and narrowing as the army advances northeast toward Moscow, arriving with approximately 100,000 men. A black band traces the retreat route, showing devastating losses correlated with plummeting temperatures displayed in a line graph below. The temperature scale shows degrees below freezing (Réaumur scale), dropping to -30°. Geographic locations are labeled along the routes, including the Niemen River, Vilna, Smolensk, and Moscow. The graphic demonstrates the catastrophic human cost of the campaign, with only 10,000 soldiers returning.

Source for the English version.

Activity

Studying the English version of the map above, answer the following questions:

Submission: Write your answer in Canvas. Name at least 5 different pieces of information and their data types, and explain where each one can be seen in the figure.