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Visualizations effectively communicate scientific insights. The image shows one of the oldest science vis: 200AD. It precisely and unambiguously communicates poisonous scorpions. And it saved the author a ton of text. [citation from A.Stückelberger] 
While drawings have a long history, scientific schematics and charts are more recent. Maybe this one from Aristotle (300BC) could be considered a kind of early diagram. It is scribbled on the right of the text.
It describes all logic possibilities of leg positions in four-legged animals. And of course, some would not even support movement :)
Since you are all scientists: which one is the correct position of front and rear legs in quadrupeds???
A truly innovative form to describe scientific theories was devised by Darwin. He not only came up with the theory of a common origin, but also for the first time used a tree with ONE origin, and some dead branches to describe the speciation. This is from his private notebook!
And this is the first actual chart I found published in nature. It very, very nicely shows the frequency of raindrops of different size. And: it gives the samples size. What a romantic project!! (cited from Nature, 1925)
The above is an example of a WELL-DONE and effective diagram. We can still understand it today, it gives units, enough text, no/few abbreviations. However, when a diagram is not well prepared, we have huge difficulties understanding it today. This one is also from nature, 1930
And honestly, although I keep trying I never really GET it. I find it very very intuitive. It lacks a zero-baseline. It must be read in both directions, for males and females, and for each insect leg separetely.
I feel so sorry for the loss of this knowlege: someone sat down to make observations, but could not really communicate what it was that he saw. Any idea?
For anyone wanting to learn more about the history of visualizations, go to RJ Andrews @infowetrust fantastic interactive infographic! infowetrust.com/scroll/
