Visual Statistics

As a long time visual thinker, I was very taken with the approach at gapminder.org, showcased at a recent tech talk given at Google (search for gapminder on Google video for the tech talk). Visualizing data in two or three dimensions can often give one powerful intuitions that justify following up with heavier-duty mathematics.
The basic purpose of visualization in this context is two-fold: first, to make a point in a striking and accessible way, and second, to allow you to focus on big trends that need further investigation. I love the approach taken during the video because it emphasizes the enormous disparity between the available data and possible methods of visualization and the amount of effort taken by the media to convey this information to individuals.
For myself, living in comfort in Canada, it's difficult to relate to a scale where the top end stops at $100 USD per day. That's 36,500 USD per year, and that salary level represents an absolutely infinitesimal portion of the world population. According to the CCSD, a family of four in Canada is below the poverty line if their income is below $35,455 CAD which these days is quite comparable to USD. The poverty line in Canada, in other words, is well above the level of the best incomes in most of the world (even after dividing by 4 to make the numbers directly comparable).
In any case, don't look at my numbers. Watch the video and visit gapminder.org ... I can almost guarantee you'll learn something new.