The Zen Master of data visualization has died. I am sorry to have to report that Dr. Hans Rosling passed away today in Uppsala, Sweden. He was just 68. A profoundly mournful day for anyone who knew Professor Rosling, obviously. But it’s also a sad day for all of us in the greater TED community or data visualization/business intelligence communities as well. Dr. Rosling’s work was seen by millions and will continue to be seen by millions worldwide. It is incalculable just how many professionals Hans inspired over the years. His presentations, always delivered with honesty, integrity, and clarity, were aided by clear visuals of both the digital and analog variety. He was a master statistician, physician, and academic, but also a superb presenter and storyteller.
Almost eleven years ago, just after TED began experimenting with putting some of their talks on the web, I wrote this post called “If your idea is worth spreading, then presentation matters.” In that post, I summarized my impression of Dr. Rosling from his 2006 TED Talk:
“Hans Rosling, an expert in public health from Sweden, does an amazing job in this presentation bringing the data to life. If you want to know how he did all those graphics, go to gapminder.org. It’s all there. Hans is saying the problem is not the data. The data is there. But it’s not accessible to most people for three reasons: (1) For researchers and journalists, teachers, etc. it is too expensive. (2) For the media, it is too difficult to access. (3) For the public, students, and policy makers, it is presented in a boring way. His solution is to make the data free, let it evoke and provoke an ‘aha’ experience, or a ‘wow!’ experience for the public. I loved the way he got involved with the data, virtually throwing himself into the screen. He got his point across, no question about it.”
From that point on, I watched virtually every talk he made and featured him in every book I wrote on presentation. I saw the professor in person at TED 2009 and was a fellow presenter with him at Tableau 2014 in Seattle where he, as usual, had the crowd of data geeks in the palm of his hand. If there is a Zen Master —or Jedi Master — of data visualization, then Dr. Hans Rosling is that master. His contributions are immense, and he will be missed deeply.
Below is Dr. Rosling’s debut at TED 2006. It’s as good now as it was then.
Hans Rosling presented at TED ten times, more than any other presenter. All of his TED presentations are featured here on the TED website. Below are links to a selection of other posts from presentationzen.com which feature videos and analysis of Dr. Rosling’s presentations over the years.
• If your idea is worth spreading, then presentation matters
• Hans Rosling: Don’t just show the notes, play the music!
• Hans Rosling: The Jedi Master of Data Visualization
• Hans Rosling redux: Mixing analog with digital visualization
• Hans Rosling: the Zen Master of Presenting Data
• Hans Rosling & the Art of Storytelling with Statistics
His message and spirit live on
Hans Rosling’s contribution to the world in his 68 years was extraordinary. I’ll continue to do whatever I can to spread his teachings in future. His work will continue to inspire and educate. We need his message of a fact-based worldview now more than ever. Here is part of today’s announcement by Anna R. Rönnlund & Ola Rosling which appeared on the Gapminder website:
Across the world, millions of people use our tools and share our vision of a fact-based worldview that everyone can understand. We know that many will be saddened by this message. Hans is no longer alive, but he will always be with us and his dream of a fact-based worldview, we will never let die!
Indeed. Let us all remember Professor’s Rosling’s contributions and continue to keep the dream of a more fact-based, rational worldview alive.
