Modern Approaches to Data Visualization

With the ever-increasing volume and heterogeneity of data that we need to cope with, data visualization is a skill that every effective scientist needs to master. Like most essential scientific skills, data visualization is one of those things that is not so much learned in classes, but rather absorbed from one's surroundings. So if you want to improve your data visualization skills, where can you turn?

By way of Guy Kawasaki's blog, I came across a beautiful and informative summary of data visualization approaches published in Smashing Magazine. The article contains dozens of images and summaries of visualization techniques, tools, and services, grouped by category. The next time you find yourself trying to show yet another 30x30 table on a PowerPoint slide, why not experiment with a more compelling and effective way?