The rapid growth of the internet has delivered a deluge of data that,
provided raw, quickly overwhelms our ability to effectively use the
information. Many disciplines, not only those mentioned in the
article, and particularly those like biology having never been faced
in their long history with so much data, have looked to data
visualization to help wade through the data and answer their complex
questions. But, data visualization while a effective technique to make
use of the data, loses much of its value when provided independent of
context - as suggested by Ms. Singer. Without the visualization
directed at particular questions, much of the power of this technique
is squandered.
Dov Greenbaum JD PhD
Mark Gerstein, PhD
Above is an unpublished letter in response to
Natasha SInger's "When the Data Struts Its Stuff," NY Times, April 3, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/business/03stream.html
