Richard Saul Wurman to Keynote ESRI International User Conference

When Richard Saul Wurman published his first book in 1962 at age 26, he began the singular passion of his life: making difficult information easily understandable. Wurman, now a prolific author and creator of the TED (technology/entertainment/design) conferences, will speak at the 2010 ESRI International User Conference (ESRI UC) in July. He will discuss his latest project, called 19.20.21, and how geographic information system (GIS) technology plays a part in it.

Wurman's 19.20.21 project is an attempt to understand comparative data on 19 cities that will have 20 million or more inhabitants in the twenty-first century. With the majority of the earth's population now living in cities, Wurman saw there was a need to address an information gap about the urban supercenters driving modern culture.

Wurman likes to say that all his work springs from the same place-his ignorance. Starting with his first book, which features models of 50 cities on a uniform scale, each of Wurman's 82 books focuses on a topic he'd had difficulty understanding. With driving curiosity, Wurman seeks ways to make the complex clear. He has written about subjects and ideas ranging from football to health care.

Wurman's achievements over the last half-century include his best-selling book Information Anxiety and his award-winning ACCESS city guides. Described by Fortune magazine as an "intellectual hedonist with a hummingbird mind," Wurman also launched the first TED conference in 1984; he brought together America's clearest thinkers in technology, entertainment, and design to enlist others in educating the public.

Internet: www.esri.com/uc.