# rougier/scientific-visualization-book

An open access book on scientific visualization using python and matplotlib

Repository: https://github.com/rougier/scientific-visualization-book
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/scientific-visualization-book
Homepage: https://www.labri.fr/perso/nrougier/
Language: Python
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: python, matplotlib, dataviz, scientific-publications, book, open-access, numpy, plotting
Last push: 2026-01-04T13:29:20+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 59/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 60, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2574, "days_push": 241, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 11444, forks 1014 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:47.026212+00:00)

## What it is
An open-access book by Nicolas P. Rougier on scientific visualization using Python and Matplotlib, covering figure fundamentals, design, advanced concepts like 3D and animation, and showcases. The repository contains the book's sources and code examples, with a PDF freely available on HAL.

## Use cases
- learn matplotlib for scientific publications
- improve the quality of figures in a research paper
- understand matplotlib coordinate systems, scales, and projections
- create 3D plots and animations with matplotlib
- find best practices for designing publication-ready charts
- learn python data visualization from scratch

## When to choose
- you want a free, in-depth written resource on matplotlib
- you need publication-quality figures for scientific papers
- you prefer learning through a structured book with code examples

## When to avoid
- you need a plotting library or tool rather than learning material
- you want interactive or web-based visualization (e.g., D3, Plotly)
- you need a quick API reference instead of a tutorial book

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: stable
- function: data-visualization, documentation
- domain: data-visualization, education, tutorials
- platform: python, cross-platform
- tags: matplotlib, book, open-access, scientific-publishing, numpy, plotting, dataviz

## Member repositories
- rougier/scientific-visualization-book (main) score 59

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:47.026212+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:15:35.653230+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/rougier/scientific-visualization-book (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:47.026212+00:00, sha 1cc22ecf23cc)
  - homepage: https://www.labri.fr/perso/nrougier/ (fetched 2026-08-29T08:14:19.374176+00:00, sha 96f1b2758f38)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.