I recently boldly claimed in front of a group of fairly smart eighth grade students that astronomy contributed greatly to the foundations of statistics and many statistical concepts were invented for use in astronomy. However, looking to back that up, I was fairly disappointed. Errors, the mean and the median deviation from the mean may have been first observed in astronomy. However, even the concept of error propagation might stem more from classical mechanics than astronomy. Beyond these concepts, I was unable to find much more. Feigelson writes (http://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0401404.pdf):

> Ptolemy estimated
parameters of a non-linear cosmological model using a
minimax goodness-of-fit method. Al-Biruni discussed
the dangers of propagating errors from inaccurate instruments
and inattentive observers. While some Medieval
scholars advised against the acquisition of repeated
measurements, fearing that errors would compound
rather than compensate for each other, the usefulnes
of the mean to increase precision was demonstrated
with great success by Tycho Brahe.


Can you suggest good references that have some more details on the historical links between astronomy and statistics? The current use of statistics in astronomy might be a suitable alternative answer. You will get an additional gold star (star is imaginary and neither a star nor gold) if you can provide references in German (to give directly to the students).