%matplotlib inline
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

import matplotlib
print matplotlib.__version__

def plot_polar(coords_rads):
    fig = plt.figure()
    ax = fig.add_axes([0, 0, 1.2, 1.2], polar=True)
    #ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='polar')
    magnitudes, angles = [list(i) for i in zip(*coords_rads)]
    print 'angles:', angles
    print 'magnitudes:', magnitudes
    #plt.scatter(angles, magnitudes)
    ax.scatter(angles, magnitudes)


coords_rads = [(10, 0.0), (200, 1.5707963267948966), (30, -1.5707963267948966), (100, 5.497787143782138)]
plot_polar(coords_rads)  # works (radius is scaled to just over 200): 
coords_rads = [(3.391, 2.061670178918302), (169.116, 0.0), (106.869, 1.0799224746714915)]
plot_polar(coords_rads)  # doesn't work (radius is scaled to 100)