Topic: The Joy of Stats - RIP Prof. Hans Rosling

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I was deeply saddened today by the death at 68 of Prof Hans Rosling, a Swedish statistics professor and founder of the Gapminder foundation (https://www.gapminder.org/).

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/feb/07/hans-rosling-obituary

In an age where misinformation and lies are routinely peddled to generate fear and misunderstanding, and often in support of short term greed or political gain, Prof Rosling found fresh an entertaining ways to present the real data.  His main themes were poverty, health and global inequality.

For anyone who is not familiar with his work, there are a couple of videos below.  The first is one of my favourite TED talks, 'The Magic Washing Machine', which focuses on the liberating power of education.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/BZoKfap4g4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/BZoKfap4g4w</a>

He probably first appeared on TV in the UK in 'The Joy of Stats' -  an often light-hearted insight into the power and possibilities of data:

<a href="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=18477762&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=1&amp;amp;show_byline=1&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=18477762&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=1&amp;amp;show_byline=1&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=&amp;amp;fullscreen=1</a>

The last appearance on mainstream UK TV was probably 'Don't Panic – The Facts About Population'.  This brilliantly puts into perspective the inequality in the world but at the same time addresses many of our misconceptions about the state.  Comparisons of test performances with academics verses chimpanzees highlights these discrepancies in an amusing way:

<a href="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=79878808&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=1&amp;amp;show_byline=1&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=&amp;amp;fullscreen=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=79878808&amp;amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;amp;show_title=1&amp;amp;show_byline=1&amp;amp;show_portrait=0&amp;amp;color=&amp;amp;fullscreen=1</a>
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Rosling described himself as an 'edutainer' others have called him a 'Jedi Master' of statistics.  Either way, the message he sent out was always one of hope and it will be a great loss to all proponents of the 'fact based world view' which he endeavoured to put forward.

[McrRed]

Didn't know his work but RIP.

Panicked for a second cos I thought our Prof from APLT had passed.

[Show Me The Exit]

RIP to an extremely intelligent and articulate gentleman.

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Gapminder ‏@Gapminder  Feb 9

Hans: "I know that people living in extreme poverty are smart. If they were stupid, they would be dead."

[TepidT2O]

His tv series was very interesting....

Quite heartening as well, the third world appearing to be nearly gone...

[redtel]

Sad to hear this news, I watched his lectures whoever he was on TV and thought he brought the subject of statistics to life in a brilliant way.

Don't Panic- The Truth About Population is on catch up now if above link doesn't work on Safari.

He talked about increased life expectancy around the world and how he hoped to live longer to see if his predictions were correct.

[zebenzui]

Sad to hear this news, I watched his lectures whoever he was on TV and thought he brought the subject of statistics to life in a brilliant way.

Don't Panic- The Truth About Population is on catch up now if above link doesn't work on Safari.

He talked about increased life expectancy around the world and how he hoped to live longer to see if his predictions were correct.

Can't help but feel sad in the face of his earnest hope.

[Gnurglan]

He made stats entertaining. I like the way he challenged people's ideas about the world. How many people could read and write? He gave some alternatives. And it turned out that a monkey picking randomly would score as good as, or better than most of us. And surprisingly, more people, a lot more than most think can actually read and write. I will miss him.

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If you are not familiar with 'More or Less' on Radio 4/ World Service it is a show dedicated to looking at numbers and statistics.  In this episode Tim Harford discusses Hans with those who have worked with him including TED founder, Chris Anderson.

In the section about his work in Liberia in the fight against Ebola he is characteristically positive.  Even in the midst of unfathomable horror he talks about how it felt like it was all of the people united against the virus, 'bringing together the brain of the expert(s) with the heart of the people'.

Available on iPlayer radio at http://bbc.in/2lHnVDO