That's only visual.
Exhibitions, galleries, auction houses, even just " window shopping " at respected outlets - see things first hand.
Ipcress stumbled upon the reality of dating old furniture, books will only help to ID furniture styles, they help very little when the question is, what date?
Construction details tell you what tools were used, how it was joined, what kind of nails, hardware, etc. Naturally, one has to know or learn what the dates were of the const details that were used by the guy who built a particular piece. That sort of knowledge is only acquired by examining furniture in person and reading about when certain construction practices were used and with what kind of materials.