The Periodic Table, conceived of nearly 150 years ago, has had a huge impact on the study of chemistry. When it was created, the Table organized the known chemical elements, but its true genius lay in its ability to predict properties of elements not yet discovered. The Periodic Table structure – meaningful rows and columns, sometimes presented with an overlay of color adding more detail – is also a tempting model for organizing and visualizing data unrelated to chemistry. In fact, we spotted three takes on the Periodic Table in just the last few weeks. They attempt to organize wearable technology, search engine optimization (SEO) factors, and billion-dollar private companies, with varying levels of success. Here’s our critique.
Put On: At TechCrunch, Brian Ballard (@brianballard723) created a Periodic Table of Wearable Technology to “capture the different hardware types, uses, and common capabilities we’ve seen applied to wearables.” Though the organization and numbering sometimes seem forced – and, as far as we can tell, the horizontal rows are meaningless, except for the Hardware and Industry series across the bottom – the table does a good job of capturing concisely the activities and technologies related to wearables. Be sure to click through to read a detailed description of the table.
At Search Engine Land, the Periodic Table of SEO Success Factors organizes and ranks the many elements that help or hurt a website’s performance in online searches. The unnamed creator of the content (Column Five Media did the design) has done a nice job of keeping the table simple and organized, and making the horizontal and vertical axes meaningful. That said, it’s odd to me that all of the +2s aren’t in the same row, and that violations are not segregated from positive elements. But it also makes sense, as gaps would have hinted at yet-to-be-discovered factors. You’ll find downloadable and printable versions, along with companion text, when you click through; perhaps your webmaster already has a copy hanging over his or her desk.
Mythical Creatures: CB Insights tracks and markets data about private companies and venture capital, and has organized the 111 most valuable private companies in its database into The Periodic Table of Unicorns. (In the parlance of Venture Capital, a unicorn is company with a private valuation or exit of $1 billion or more.) Each color on CB Insights’ table signifies a different industry or focus; indeed, color is the only organizing feature I can find in the table. That’s a lost opportunity, I think; the unicorns could have been organized by year of founding, or by geography, or even alphabetically for easier reading.
Wild hair (bonus item): No blog about the Periodic Table is complete without a mention of Periodic Videos. This site organizes 118 videos – one for each element – on the Periodic Table. Click on an element and an informative short clip about that element, produced by Brady Haran, pops up. There’s also the piece above, in which the entire Periodic Table is etched onto a single strand of Prof. Martyn Poliakoff’s prodigious hair.
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Recent Data Driven Digests:
June 19: Birth month and disease, medical employment, Grand Canyon deaths, HealthData.gov
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June 5: Wind measured from space, under California coastal waters, age of Los Angeles buildings