It is notoriously difficult to create meaningful graphics that help us understand certain kinds of data. One of the greatest graphics ever constructed displays Napoleon's fateful march on Moscow in the fall of 1812, by Minard. A modern web rendering is available here. Notes from a talk on the visual display of quantitative information is available here.

This site attempts to put into perspective the tremendous loss of human life throughout the US and the world, as well as the tremendous advent of new life. It was initially inspired by the tragic events in Manhattan on September 11, 2001. One cannot help but recall John Donne's words from Devotions on Emergent Occasions (1623): "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main... any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

First graphics show the number of those missing or killed in Manhattan on September 11, 2001, and number of anticipated deaths in the United States today, by various causes. In each figure below, every dot represents one person lost. There are 100 dots per row, if the resolution is too inadequate to make out individual dots.

The color coding on the right indicates the cause attributed to the loss; heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic lung disease, pneumonia/flu, diabetes, suicide, and kidney disease are the eight conditions with the greatest incidence.

About 10847 people will be born today in the United States. And over 2500 15-19 year olds will become pregnant today.

In the figures below, more direct comparisons are made. Scroll over as need be.

4792 deaths today will be attributed to one of the causes listed above. 36 deaths will be attributed to AIDS. Of all deaths today, 1147 deaths today will be considered a result of smoking.