General / Off-Topic Hans Rosling Dies

[Javert]

Quick call out for the well known Statistician Hans Rosling, who died yesterday.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...data-dies-aged-68-cancer-sweden-a7568191.html

I watched a few lectures by him on the TV, and I have to say that his way of making discussion of statistics exciting [woah] was a real eye opener. Listening to his lectures really opened my eyes about a few aspects of the way I view the world, and a few myths that many people believe.

I particularly remember a show he did about world population which was staggeringly good.

One of his party tricks was to poll the audience with a question like "How many children to you think families in Bangladesh have on average" and watch whilst 90% of the audience get it completely wrong.

His lectures were also technically brilliant - making excellent use of technology to find ways to present the information in a really interesting way.

 

[beelbeebub]

The exact opposite of alternative facts.

 

[Matt168]

The exact opposite of alternative facts.

That was my first thought when I read this story earlier today. They might want to make plenty of space inside his grave to accommodate all the spinning he is likely to be doing over the coming years. The show on population was one of the most interesting things I have seen for some time. I hope his work carries on as really we need people like him more than ever now.