I first heard about The Atlas of the Real World by Daniel Dorling while listening to a podcast on an NPR show. (I don't recall which show.) The topic proved interesting enough that I decided to search for it on the Internet.
The concept is simple: Show how the world is, not through pie charts or bar graphs, but by land mass. (This area of study is called cartography and is sometimes subject to heated debates as a means of showing information.) Still, it can make for some interesting discussions.
E.g. if you follow this link http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/the-atlas-of-the-real-world/ you can see some of the maps from the book. You should be prepared to be a little weirded out by the "maps" as they look completely foreign in their warped formations. As you review more of them, it becomes much easier to assess what's being demonstrated.
These are the types of discoveries that get me enthused as a teacher. I cannot help but think that such a book -or even concept- would be great fun for students of all ages to explore in social studies and apply in math. So, for example, if students generated a bar graph of the obesity rates throughout the world they could then map it using a cartographer approach to make it more meaningful. Bar and pie charts are great but leave a lot of personal connections on the wayside.
Anyway, it's worth looking this book over. If nothing else, it may color your view of the world differently, not for better or worse, but differently.
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