Statistics is the profession concerned with collecting, analyzing and presenting data. It encompasses everything from simple counting methods to highly complex mathematical systems. The history of statistics can be traced back to the fifteenth century when the theory of probability and the study of chance were first considered. At that time, international commerce and trade were of vital importance to many European nations. The loss of valuable freight to storms, piracy or theft led to the concept of insuring cargo against loss. Wealthy individuals, in return for a premium, agreed to compensate merchants in the event the cargo was lost. The insurers began estimating the number and types of risks involved in insuring the ships, and the first studies on the theory of chance were undertaken.

The first mathematician to make an organized study on chance was the sixteenth-century Italian mathematician Girolamo Cardano. An avid gambler, Cardano applied...