Infographics old and new: top data visualisations, in pictures

There is an infographic boom going on out there - with the internet flooded with data visualisations of the way we fight war, how we use Twitter, what music we like and how we use the, er, internet. But new as these are, there's a long tradition of telling stories using graphics.

Information Graphics from Taschen, which includes work from the Guardian such as our public spending chart, tells the story of how information graphics came to rule our world. We've selected some of those from the past - to contrast with some key infographics from the past few years - albeit missing out hundreds of examples we could have chosen from the years inbetween.

These are some of the images. What have we missed and which ones do you like? Let us know in the comments field below.

Information Graphics from the Guardian bookstore at a discount price of £35.99

1858 Histoire Universelle

This Table of Universal History was published in Paris. It visualises the complete history of humankind, top down, from the creation of Adam and Eve to the then present day. Individual cultures are depicted as rivers.
Credit: Eug. Pick, 1858 Paris

1926 Kahn

In his educational books on health and anatomy, german physician Fritz Kahn repeatedly drew on the old analogy of human body and machines. This poster from 1926 visualises human metabolism as a process of industrial production.
Credit: Fritz Kahn. Stuttgart 1926 © von Debschitz

1940 Geis

In the 1930s, magazines like Fortune or McCall's developed a vivid visual language for statistical data. In this graphic for McCall's, Irving Geis visualised data concerning the population of the Americas, e.g. an ethnic breakdown and the number of poor people.
Credit: Irving Geis, ca. 1940 © Sandy Geis

2006 Esquire

Body Parts. Project Info: Esquire, magazine article, 2006, UK. Design: Peter Grundy (Grundini), Art Direction: Alex Breuer

2006 This is indexed

This is Indexed. Project Info: This is Indexed blog, since 2006, USA
Design: Jessica Hagy

2007 Stanford

Two Mindsets. Project Info: Stanford, magazine article, 2007, USA Data Source: Carol Dweck: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success", 2006. Design: Nigel Holmes

2008 Ward Shelley

Frank Zappa Chart. Project Info: Painting, 2008, USA
Artist: Ward Shelley

2008 Mundo Estranho

The Greatest Curiosities of the Human Body, Project Info: Mundo Estranho, magazine article, 2008, Brazil Research: Fabio Volpe, Yuri Vasconscelos
Design: Alessandra Kalko, Illustration: Gabriel Silveira

2008 New York Times

Exposed to Dungeons & Dragons Early in Life. "Geek Love", The New York Times, newspaper article, 2008, USA.
Design: Sam Potts. Art Direction: Brian Rea

2009 CNN

Traffic Analysis, Project Info: CNN, website, 2009, USA. Data Source: Webstats Internal Server Logs; Omniture SiteCatalyst; International Telecommunications Union; United Nations Population Division; AT&T Labs Research; Nielsen Online; Gartner Research
Design: Nicholas Felton

2009 Condé Nast

Shell's Big Dig. Project Info: Condé Nast Portfolio, magazine article, 2009, USA. Research: Jeff VanDam
Design: John Grimwade, Grace Lee, Art Direction: Robert Priest, Illustration: Bryan Christie

2009 IEE

Mission(s) to Mars. Project Info: IEEE Spectrum, magazine article, 2009, USA. Data Source: Cornell University; European Space Agency; NASA; RussianSpaceWeb.com
Design: Bryan Christie, Joe Lertola, Art Direction: Mark Montgomery, Michael Solita

2009 Mark

On Hold Hold on. Project Info: Mark, magazine article, 2009, Netherlands. Data Source: SkyscraperPage.com; Emporis.com; Oobject.com; BBC News
Design: Theo Deutinger, Barbara Weingartner

2010 Medallandssandur

Medallandssandur. Project Info: A blend of the sound specters form sonar and whale song. From a series of drawings, 2010, Norway / Iceland. Design: Torgeir Husevaag

2010 GOOD

The Digital Dump. Project Info: "The Growing E-Waste Situation", GOOD, website, 2010, USA. Data Source: CBS News; ABI Research; US EPA; Basel Action Network; Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. Research: Brian Wolford
Design: Andrew Effendy (Column Five Media), Art Direction: Ross Crooks