Hans Rosling is Professor of Global Health at Sweden's Karolinska Institute. He is the founder of the Gapminder Foundation which strives to make statistical data freely available and easily understandable online. As part of Gapminder´s work, Hans created Trendalyzer which is a software product that unveils the beauty of statistics by turning boring numbers into enjoyable animations and interactive graphics.

 

Hans is now looking at the bigger picture, increasing our understanding of social and economic development with the remarkable trend-revealing software he created. What sets Hans apart isn't just his observations of broad social and economic trends, but the stunning way he presents them. His presentations are grounded in solid statistics (often drawn from UN data), illustrated by the visualisation software he developed. The animations transform development statistics into moving bubbles and flowing curves that make global trends clear, intuitive and even playful. During his legendary presentations, Hans takes this one step farther, narrating the animations with a sportscaster's flair.

 

Hans began his wide-ranging career as a physician, spending many years in rural Africa tracking a rare paralytic disease (which he named konzo) and discovering its cause: hunger and badly processed cassava. He co-founded Médecins sans Frontièrs (Doctors without Borders) Sweden, wrote a textbook on global health, and as a Professor at the Karolinska Institut in Stockholm initiated key international research collaborations.

 

Hans has also personally discussed and argued with many heads of state, including Fidel Castro. As if all this weren't enough, Hans is also an accomplished sword-swallower, a skill he demonstrated at TED 2007.
 

Hans Rosling