Hans Rosling wants to help people make sense of the world by “unveiling the beauty of statistics”. One of a few bright lights in the world of number crunchers, the professor of health at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute thinks figures should be “out there, understandable, free and searchable”.

To help him put an end to lifeless spreadsheets and dull PowerPoint presentations, Prof Rosling has created Trendalyzer, a software programme that uses eye-catching graphics and animation to display data.