The Joy of Stats

I wouldn't normally go anywhere near BBC 4, but as I was channel-hopping last night, the 'Joy of Stats' caught my eye. And no, I didn't just mis-read the title...


The programme was written and presented by the energetic and obviously enthusiastic Professor Hans Rosling, who'd fallen into statistics through his work in Global Health.

His enthusiasm and humour is highly contagious and before long I was enthralled by his clearly well researched treatise on the birth, growth and evolution of using numbers and data to help inform and change the world.

The parts that were particularly interesting to me were the Open Data and internet-related segments, which amounted to most of the programme, in fact. Professor Rosling has a keen understanding of the worth of open data and how understanding this new area will enable citizens, rather than organisations and states to change the world.

Well worth a look on BBC iPlayer:

• The Joy of Stats
• 200 countries, 200 years, 4 minutes (clip)

And it's on again at these times:

• Wed 8 Dec 2010 - 00:00 - BBC Four
• Wed 8 Dec 2010 - 03:30 - BBC Four
• Mon 13 Dec 2010 - 23:00 - BBC Four