I understand the problem from a statistical perspective, and you make 
an excellent point (as I have come to expect, reading this list). 
However, I'm thinking about it from a visual/aesthetic perspective.

Let me try this. Plot two histograms side-by-side:

 > x <- rnorm(10)
 > par(mfcol=c(1,2))
 > hist(x)
 > hist(x,col="gray",border="gray")

Which one is easier to interpret? To my eyes, the default hist() is, 
but given the statistical meaning of a histogram, I think I could argue 
that the gray version is a more accurate representation of the data.

The default histogram delimits the space between subareas to make the 
graph easier to read. I'm just trying to tweak this to further improve 
it. I don't want to separate the bars so much as control (and, I hope, 
improve) their appearance.

Thanks,

Tom

On Feb 9, 2005, at 11:06 AM, Prof Brian Ripley wrote:

> A histogram is a density estimate (at least as defined in the 
> Encyclopedia of Statistics Sciences, if not in many US Universities).  
> It is an area, not a series of unrelated bars, so it makes no sense to 
> have spaces between the subareas.
>
> Unfortunately, hist() will also produce barplots of counts.
>
> On Wed, 9 Feb 2005, Thomas Hopper wrote:
>
>> Is there any way to control the spacing between bars in a histogram, 
>> or change the border width (I'm assuming the hist() function, though 
>> alternatives are welcome)? I'm interested in changing the visual 
>> spacing between columns in a plotted histogram.
>>
>> The general effect I'm looking for can be accomplished in barplots 
>> using the "width=" parameter, but I have not been able to find a way 
>> to adjust the apparent spacing in histograms.
>
> -- 
> Brian D. Ripley,                  ripley@stats.ox.ac.uk
> Professor of Applied Statistics,  http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
> University of Oxford,             Tel:  +44 1865 272861 (self)
> 1 South Parks Road,                     +44 1865 272866 (PA)
> Oxford OX1 3TG, UK                Fax:  +44 1865 272595
>
>
---
In cyberspace, no one can hear you scream.


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