Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 74512
Logarithmic Scale: Default Value vs Log
Last modified: 2017-05-20 10:04:02 UTC
*Logarithmic Scale* - Display Original Values or the Logarithm Thereof TARGET ====== Chart2 Reimplementation This feature request should be integrated into the "Scales and Intervals Specification" (http://specs.openoffice.org/chart/Chart_Scales_and_Intervals.odt) DESCRIPTION =========== When using the logarithmic scale, most often one wishes to display the original values. However, there are situations when the logarithm is more useful. REASON ====== The logarithmic scale is sometimes used to display wide variations in the values to be displayed. Such variations may be wide enough to preclude efficient annotation of the graph. Therefore, the logarithm thereof may be more suitable. E.g., instead of 1 to 1,000,000,000 one may use 0 to 9. Sometimes, one wishes to highlight the change in the value, so the logarithm is more useful (a difference of 1 logarithm step means a change by a factor 10). This is especially useful in virology (viral load) and in serology (log2). Some adimensional data or data with non-relevant dimensions may be better represented by the logarithm, then by the original value. See also e.g. the following free articles where such graphs occur: http://www.nature.com/hdy/journal/v93/n6/pdf/6800559a.pdf and http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/reprint/25/43/10049 . IMPELEMNTATION ============== 1. checkbox: display original value (checked by default) 2. checkbox: display the log
I am not really convinced that this feature is useful. I fear that it may introduce more irritation. Hm, well. Let's see whether it gets some more comments or votes.
Created attachment 43136 [details] Chart Example using this Feature
Created attachment 43137 [details] Chart Example using this Feature (II)
I have added 2 picture from an article published in the journal "Nature" depicting this feature. As stated, this option is often used in academic publishing when dealing with: - large variations in the scale - need to point out the difference between two values When wanting to point out the difference between 2 values, the logarithm is much more useful, because we will have the difference expressed as 1 point, 2 points or the like (and NOT absolute differences of e.g. 560,000 vs 7,002,500; in this case the log difference is 1.09, i.e. 5.75 vs 6.85). One particular field where this is useful is in virology, where viral load is more accurately represented by the log value: e.g. when measuring the effectiveness of HIV treatment, we measure the viral load, BUT more important we need to know the variation in the viral load, and here the logarithm is more easy to interpret.
What software enables this feature?
No info from author.