Friday, December 3, 2010

Hans Rosling: 200 Countries over 200 Years, in 5 Minutes

I no longer put up regular TED talks to mark Fridays at this blog; too much of a good thing cloys. But I cannot resist putting up today this five-minute video, not made at a TED conference, from one of the earliest TED stars -- public health historian and data specialist Hans Rosling. With his usual flair for visual style, Dr. Rosling presents his now famous "dancing balls" to depict the improvements in health and standard of living for 200 countries of the world, from 1813 to date:







Hans Rosling is a treasure, and this talk sums up his detailed findings in a spectacularly economical and striking way. (Seeing the effects of World War I and the flu epidemic was for me the most dramatic of his demonstrations.) Can we continue on the path he projects for us, even as some major western and Asian populations are in decline? I would like to see him try to wrestle with demographic statistics in the same way he manages with longevity and income.

1 comment:

  1. Fascinating ! I wonder what his presentation may look like in another decade or even century. Will we see the decline of the west and the rise in Africa and Asia??

    ReplyDelete