Synchronoptic view

A synchronoptic view is a graphic display of a number of entities as they proceed through time.

A number of related timelines can be drawn on a single chart, showing which events and lives are contemporary and which are unconnected.

Visible information is much more easily learned, than when it is presented only in pure text form.

Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg (1709–1779) was the first to develop a synchronoptical visualisation with his Chronographie universelle & details qui en dependent pour la Chronologie & les Genealogies (1753) abbreviated to Carte chronographique.

[1] The chronograph chart consisted of 35 prints which were designed to be stuck together in a row, enabling 6,500 years to be represented in 6.5 metres (21 ft).