I read Factfulness, a book about hope backed by data. We are probably all familiar with Hans Rosling’s famous Ted Talk with bubble charts showing how countries have developed over the last couple of centuries. This book is written by him along with Anna Rosling Rönnlund and Ola Rosling, his daughter-in-law and son, the co-founders of the Gapminder Foundation and creators of the Trendalyzer (the bubble chart tool).

So why do I say it’s a book about hope backed by data? Because throughout the book the authors shine a light on some timeless tenets that we will continue to encounter in our endeavor to leave behind a better place:

1. It is possible for things to be bad and to be improving – look at both sides
2. Data can help us contextualize a situation that affected us in the past but now affects someone else so we can understand and help instead of criticize or condescend
3. Our preconceived notions seldom hold us back from the real facts so you don’t need to be genius to be factful

Highly recommended if you desire to be/remain humble and curious! Also, if you’re a budding data analyst and want to learn how to tell great, fact based stories with data.