I really enjoy watching TED Talks online. If you are not familiar with TED, check out their web site. TED is a nonpartisan nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 110 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.

My absolutely favorite TED presenter was Swedish physician, academic, statistician, and public speaker Hans Rosling. He was the Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute and was the co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation, which developed the Trendalyzer software system. He held presentations around the world, including several TED Talks in which he promoted the use of data to explore development issues. Unfortunately, Rosling died two years ago when he was only 68.

But his TED Talks live on at the TED web site for all of us to catch. And if you are thinking that presentations about data and statistics must be boring, you could not be more wrong. Give one of his talks a try and you will be hooked like I am. I don’t know when I am more impressed by his insights or the way he brings data to life.

You can call up a list of all his TED Talks by using the search bar on the TED web site. But as an homage to the man, they have put together a collection of his ten most popular talks at this link. The talks featured in this collection are entitled:

There are more TED Talks by Hans Rosling on the TED web site, but this is a good start for your retrospective. And if you like the printed page, you might enjoy his best-selling book Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World — and Why Things Are Better Than You Think.

He may just change how you see the world.

Herb