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this time that human language originated, a development that would
have had profound implications for all aspects of human activity. About
10,000 years ago, one of the most important events in human history
took place-plants were domesticated, and soon after, animals as well.

This agricultural revolution set the stage for the events in human history
that eventually led to civilization.
Modern understanding of human evolution rests on known fossils,

but the picture is far from complete. Only future fossil discoveries will
enable scientists to fill many of the blanks in the present picture of
human evolution. Employing sophisticated technological devices as well
as the accumulated knowledge of the patterns of geological deposition,

anthropologists are now able to pinpoint the most promising locations
for fossil hunting more accurately. In the years ahead this will result in
an enormous increase in the understanding of human biological history.

12. STATISTICS

Statistics is the mathematical science that is involved with the
collection, presentation, analysis and interpretation of data, and the

methods utilized therein. The procedures used in collecting,
summarizing and analyzing data are called statistical methods. The
science of statistics is primarily concerned with the formulation and
implementation of these statistical methods to the analysis of data, in

order to enable one to derive meaningful conclusions that achieve
his/her objectives for obtaining the data.
Statistics can be divided into two major areas. Descriptive statistics

comprises the statistical methods dealing with the collection, tabulation
and summarization of data, so as to present meaningful information.
Statistical inference, on the other hand, consists of the methods involved
with the analysis and interpretation of data that will enable the

statistician to develop meaningful inferences about the data. Both
subfields are interrelated; while descriptive statistics organizes the
collected data in a systematic manner, statistical inference analyzes the

data and enables one to produce significant inferences about it.
A population is the totality of the observations with which a
statistician is concerned. The observations could refer to anything of

interest, such as persons, animals or objects; it need not be limited to
people. The size of the population is defined to be the number of
observations in the population. In collecting data concerning a

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