Cliodynamics: A Future for History?

What is history? And what, if any, are its practical uses? These are the questions I’ve been pondering since being introduced to Cliodynamics – which claims to make history into  “an analytical, predictive science.” To that end, I wish to address two questions: is it possible to make history into “an analytical, predictive science?” And is it desirable, for the purposes of attaining greater knowledge or understanding, to do this?