Statistics can be used to analyze data, make predictions, and draw conclusions. It has a variety of applications including predicting disease occurrence, weather forecasting, medical studies, quality testing, and analyzing stock markets. There are two main branches of statistics - descriptive statistics which summarizes and presents data, and inferential statistics which analyzes samples to make conclusions about populations. Key terms include population, sample, parameter, statistic, variable, data, qualitative vs. quantitative data, discrete vs. continuous data, and the different levels of measurement. Important figures in the history of statistics mentioned are William Petty, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Ronald Fisher, and James Lind.