Gapminder

Do statistics make your eyes glaze over? You won’t think so after you have seen Hans Rosling’s remarkable presentation of 30-year trends on world health, education and wealth.

The animated graphics prepared by Gapminder provide a wonderfully clear explanation of the Human Development Trends, and transform development statistics into dynamic and mesmerising journeys. Well, they do for me!

Gapminder chart: GDP per capita and education levels

Using these tools Gapminder's founder, Hans Rosling, proves in a brilliant presentation that development statistics can be very entertaining. Check out the video presentation of his talk at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) site.

Then you can cruise over to Gapminder and play with their animated charts and maps. Set your own questions, quiz yourself.

• Which one country is outstanding in going backwards on child (under 5 years) mortality in the past 10 years while all other countries have made significant advances? Iraq. Evidence of the superior foresight of the Bush Administration.

You’ll find lots of surprises and quirks in these gorgeous playthings.

It's fun to check out your favourite countries on these charts. Tanzania, Australia, India, Norway. It's hard not to barrack for your favourites when you press the 'play' button on one of the dynamic charts and watch the dots move onward and upward from 1970 to 2003. Very exciting stuff. Or am I just nerdy?