Visual Complexity

It's a question that many designers have thought about over the years (non-designers too, of course): how can you possibly visualize complex networks?
Visualizing is, in this case, not just about making pretty pictures, but it is also a way of understanding complexity.
Manuel Lima, an interaction designer, information architect and design researcher started a website called visualcomplexity.com , which is completely devoted to the subject of depicting complex sources of information, like social networks, internet features, art and more. There are plenty of examples to be found, that might help one understand the subject matter a bit more...