ACTIVITY REPORT 1994-97 ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF LETTERS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND ITS STAFF MEMBERS

 Feza Günergun

An activity report of the History of Science Department for the years 1984-94 and an article introducing Professor E. İhsanoğlu's (Head of the Department) studies on history of science with a list of his publications have already been included in the past volume of the Studies in Ottoman Science (Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları) published in 1995.1 In this second volume the educational and scientific activites of the Department and its staff-members within the years 1994-97 will be presented. This article includes also reviews of books or projects published or supervised by the staff-members and a list of their publications.

The research and publications of the Department (est. 1984) focus principally on the scientific activities and institutions in the Ottoman Empire , the Ottoman scientific outlook, the introduction and reception of modern sciences in Ottoman Turkey as well as on Ottoman metrology. Science in the Republican Period is also being investigated. Master's and doctorate programmes are within this general framework. The Department celebrated the 10th anniversary of its foundation on December 1994. The first graduates of the Department received their BA degrees at the end of the academic year 1995-96 after having completed the four years BA programme in History of Science. They were the first graduates in History of Science in Turkey .

Teaching

The undergraduate courses held at the department mainly cover the development of various scientific disciplines in ancient civilisations up to modern times and are supported by philosophy and sociology courses. The courses can be grouped under four main headings: History of Science (Introduction to History of Science, Il-story of Mathematics, History of Physics, History of Science, History of Astronomy, History of Turkish-Islamic Science, Science in the 19th and 20th centuries, History of Chemistry, History of Biology, History of Technology, History of Ottoman Science, Science in the Republican Period in Turkey); Science (Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Biology); Philosophy and Sociology (Logic, History of Philosophy, Sociology, Turkish-Islamic Philosophy, etc.), other courses (Texts on History of Science in English, Science in Journalism, etc.). Courses for the M.A. and Ph.D. programmes include specific courses in accordance with the subject area of post graduate students.

M.A. and Ph.D. Theses

Salim Aydüz, The Institution of Chiefastronomership in the Ottoman SlOte, M.A.thesis defended on 18 January 1994. Supervisor: E. İhsanoğlu.

Cemil Aydın, Understanding of Science and Civilisation in the Journals Mecmua-i Fiinun and Mecmua-i Ulum. M.A. thesis defended on 17 Augusi IW*), Supervisor: E. İhsanoğlu.

Gaye Şahinbaş. Anatomy and Medicine in Anatolian Hitites, MA thesis del ended on 5 September 1995 , Supervisor: Ali Dinçol.

Mustafa Kaçar, Changes in the Ottoman Science and Education and the Establishment of Imperial Schools of Engineering, Ph.D. thesis defended on ?u September 1996, Supervisor: E. İhsanoğlu.

Nurhan Kafadenk, The Critical Edition of Hekim Bereke's Work Titled Tiihfe-i Miibarizi and the Study of the Materia Medica Section. M.A. thesis defended on 13 March 1997 , Supervisor: E. İhsanoğlu

Tofıgh Heiderzadeh, AH Kıışçu's Work on Astronomy, MA thesis defended on 17 June 1997, Supervisor: E. İhsanoğlu.

Symposia

The staff of the Department of History of Science strongly supported trW organisation of the following symposia during the peri<xl 1994-97.

International Symposium on Science and Technology in the Turkish and Islamic World , Istanbul , 3-5 June 1994.

The symposium was |oinlly organised hy the Turkish Society lot Illnlniy Of Silence (THTK). Heseaich Center for Muinle MİNinıy, Art and Culture (IRCICA), Boğaziçi University , Marmara University , Uzbekistan Academy of s Sciences and UNESCO to commemorate the 600th anniversary of Ulugh Beg' s birthday, founder of the Samarkand Observatory, and the 125th anniversary of the foundation of Kandilli Observatory ( Istanbul ). Scholars from fifteen countries ( Azerbaijan , Canada , Egypt . Germany , Iran , Italy , Jordan , Kırgızistan , Kuwait , Malaysia , Spain , Syria , Turkey , USA , Uzbekistan ) participated in the symposium and 51 papers were presented.

The symposium discussed various aspects of scientific and technological developments which occurred in the Turkish and Islamic World, in the fields of exact sciences such as astronomy, mathematics as well as natural sciences and technology. It dealt with the histories of scientific and educational institutions, the works, contributions and influence of scientists and scholars. The symposium studied mainly the scientific and technological developments of the late Islamic period, especially from the fall of Baghdad in 1258 AD -representing the turning point in Islamic history- to the Golden Age of Islamic science, including the activities carried out in Maragha, Samarkand Damascus, Cairo , Andalusia and Istanbul . The encounters between the Islamic world and European science and the resulting new institutions were examined and evaluated from historical ami cultural viewpoints.

International Conference on the Transfer of Science and Technology Between Europe and Asia (1880-1950) , Istanbul , 28-30 October 1994.

The symposium was jointly organised by the Turkish Society for History of Science (TBTK), Research Center for Islamic History, Art And Culture (IRCICA) and Leiden University Institute for the History of European Expansion. It was the third in the series of conferences titled "The Transfer ol Science and Technology Between Europe and Asia since Vasco da Gama (1498 1998)".

Papers presented were mainly about the transfer of technology to Chin», Indonesia , India , Japan and Turkey , and modern science education in these countries. In some papers, military technology, agricultural knowledge and techniques, ship and railroad building, modern medicine, communication techniques and the introduction of the metric weights and measures to Asian and Far Eastern countries were discussal. On the other hand, the establishment and the development of chemical and steel industries in those countries, the application of new printing techniques, the attempts for the moderni/atlon ol the naval ami air forces were introduced The proceedings are published In the Vllh volume (Tokyo 1996) of the Journal of the Japan-Netherlands Institute (e& WG.J.Remmelink).

International Symposium on Methods and Materials for Teaching the History of Science , Istanbul , 17-21 July 1995

The symposium, jointly organised by the Turkish Society for History of Science (TBTK) and the International Commission for Teaching the History of Science and Technology of IUHPS/DHS discussed several issues and problems encountered in the teaching of history of science. At the Istanbul Symposium, there were national papers by scholars dealing with the teaching of history of science in their own countries. There were also papers on teaching the history of science in general as well as on teaching the histories of various discip mes such as astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, pharmacy, physics and tix.inology. Scholars from China , Czech Republic , Germany , Great Britain , Jordan , the Netherlands , South Korea , Spain and Turkey who personally taught history of science and technology in their countries, participated in the symposium.

International Symposium on the Introduction of Modern Science and Technology to Turkey and Japan , Istanbul , 7-11 October 1996

Jointly organised by the International Research Center for Islamic History, Art And Culture (IRC1CA) and the International Research Center for lapunese Studies (IRCJS) with the collaboration of the Turkish Society for History of Science (TBTK). Comparative studies were conducted in six sessions devoted to industry, communication & transportation, scientific literature, scientific educational institutions and standardization. The period covered was the IKth and 19th centuries and topics discussed in the symposium were as follows: Shipbuilding in Japan; the introduction of modern technology to Ottoman industry; the modernization of transport and communication in Japan and Turkey; translation and the origins of western science in Japan; Ottoman Ncicntilic literature; educational systems for training scientists and engineers in Moiji Japan; changes in the Ottoman educational life and efforts towards iiiixlmii/ation; introduction of metric system to modern Japan and Turkey. The pioavdings are recently published by the International Research Center for Jupunc.sc Studies {Introduction of Modern Science and Technology to Turkey and Japan , Fezu GUnergun & S. Kuriyama cös., IRCJS, Kyoto 1998, 257 pp.).

Conferences

Mathematics in Islam (8th-16th centuries) by Ahmet Jebbar on 11 December 1995; Quantum Physics by Ömür Akyüz on 5 April 1996;The Social, Intellectual and Institutional Contexts of Islamic Scientific Cosmography by Jamil Ragep on 6 May 1997.

Awards granted to staff members

E.İhsanoğlu

Memberships

List of publications by staff members

See the Turkish version of this article in pages 371-376.

Review of books published under the editorship of staff members (Reviews listed according to the date of publication)

Osmanlı Devleti ve Medeniyeti Tarihi (History of the Ottoman State and Civilisation), Vol.1 , by F.Emecen et al., edited and preface by E.İhsanoğlu, Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), Istanbul 1994. xxvm + 868 p., 126 photographs, 8 maps, 14 diagrams and tables (in Turkish).

This collective work by Turkish scholars is the first volume of a comprehensive survey to cover the six hundred year-old history of the Ottoman slate and civilization from the formation of the Ottoman principality until the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. The book resulted from part of a large-scale research project of IRCICA titled "History of Muslim Nations". It alms to give an objective account of the history of the Ottoman state and civilization on the basis of the Ottoman archival sources, chronicles, and works by contemporary Western and Turkish scholars.

This volume comprises articles in the following headings: Ottoman political history, Ottoman state administration , the administrative system during and after the Tanzimat period, Ottoman military organization, Ottoman legal system, Ottoman society, Ottoman economic structure (financial system, precious metals, monetary and price policy, trade & commerce), transport, communication and the postal services, industry. The work has a rich bibliography, a chronology and a detailed index. The second volume which came out recently (1998) covers subjects such as Ottoman intellectual life, educational and scientific life, religious lilt*, language and literature, art and architecture and musical activities (Osmanlı Devleti ve Medeniyeti Tarihi, vol.II, N.Yüce et al., ed. and Introduction by E. Ihsnnoğlu. Research Center for Islamic History, Art Culture (IRCICA), Istanbul IWK, xxxvi, 849 pp.).

Osmanlı /filimi Araştırmaları (Studies in Ottoman Science) , cd. Feza GüncrKiın. Istanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Yayınlan, Istanbul 1995. |3| 37H pp. (In Turkish with summaries in English)

The Department ol History of Science, published a collection ol articles to cclehtiite the IOth anniversary of the Department .md n was presented us a Festschrift to Professor Dr. E. İhsanoğlu on the occasion of his 50th birthday. The publication contains the latest studies conducted in the history of Ottoman science in the Department at Istanbul University . It is also the first periodical specifically devoted to the history of Ottoman science and technology. This first volume contains nine articles. The first one is a detailed report on the educational and research activities carried in the Department between 1984-1994. The second presents the biography of E.İhsanofilu and his works on history of science, while the third gives an outline of the studies that have been carried out in Turkey since the 19th century on the history of Ottoman mathematical, natural and medical sciences as well as on the history of technology and Ottoman scientific institutions. The subsequent articles are on Ibn Hawwam (14th century Islamic mathematician); the teaching of arithmetic and algebra in Ottoman madrasas; the development of the chief-astronomership; military renovation in the Ottoman State; the history of the Darülfünun Faculty of Science; and finally an evaluation of the Journal of the Darülfünun Faculty of Science.

Çağını Yakalayan Osmanlı (Ottomans' attempts to keep up with the age) , Proceedings of the International Symposium on Modern Techniques of Transport and Communication in the Ottoman State (Istanbul 3-5 April 1989). Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu & Mustafa Kaçar eds., Research Center for Islamic History. Art and Culture (IRCICA), 1995, xvi + 701 pp. (in Turkish).

This book outlines the efforts to transfer transport and communication technologies from the West to the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. It also examines the attitude of the Ottomans towards new technology and the economic and social factors that influenced the process of technology transfer.

Subjects treated in the twenty-three papers included in this volume are us follows: road system and communication in the Ottoman classical period (up to the 19th century), establishment of the ministry of posts and the telephone administration in the modernisation period, steamship technology, naval transport, Ottoman steamship administrations, ship cruises, the Black Sen-Danube Canal Projects, the construction of railways (Boğazköy-Köstence, Izmır-Aydın, Haydarpaşa-İzmit. Hijaz etc.). the Bosphorus Tunnel project, stream trams in the Ottoman Empire , construction of highways, Trab/.on-Iran transit transportation, aviation in the Ottoman Empire , the effects of new techniques ol communication and transport on Ottoman stxicty etc.

Catalogue of the Islamic Manuscripts in Cyprus , prepared by Ramazan Şeşen, Mustafa Haşim Atlan and Cevat İzgi, preface by H.E.Rauf Denktaş, introduction by E. İhsanoğlu, IS AR publications, Istanbul 1995; LII+630 pp.(Arabic section). XLI+86 pp. (Turkish section).

This catalogue resulted from a project undertaken jointly with the National Archives and Research Centre of Northern Cyprus starting from 1987. It is a record of the written Islamic cultural heritage that is now preserved in the libraries and archives of North Cyprus, namely the Sultan Mahmud II Library, the Selimiye Mosque, the Laleli Mosque and the National Archives. The catalogue has three main parts covering Arabic, Turkish and Persian manuscripts respectively; there are 1948 in Arabic, 211 in Turkish and 96 in Persian, i.e. 2255 works in total. In each part, the bibliographic entries are arranged according to their subjects: copies of the Koran and manuscripts on Koranic sciences, the Hadith, the life of the prophet, Islamic jurisprudence, literature, philosophy, history, logic, astronomy and other subjects. At the end of each part, there are indices of authors, titles, copyists, waqfs and other institutions, places and reference works.

Bibliography on Manuscript Libraries in Turkey and the Publications on the Manuscripts Located in these Libraries , prepared by Nimet Bayraktar and Mihin Lugal, ed. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu. Research Center for Islamic History. Art and Culture (IRCICA), Istanbul 1995, xvii+337 pp.

The books purpose is two-fold: on the one hand, it is an extensive bibliography of the manuscripts, on the other hand, it is a guide book of manuscript libraries. In the section devoted to each lihrary, there is information on the library's address and affiliation, its collections, the number of manuscripts and their distribution according to language, its catalogue, particularly already published hand lists and catalogues as well as various publications and short histories about the library. The previous bibliographies that were published about persons or subjects or about the manuscripts located in a particular library, are also included in this bibliography.

The first part of the book consists of two main sections: the first is a guide to the libraries, and the second consists of a bibliography <v>out these libraries. The second part of the book contains the bibliography of publications about the works located in the collection of these libraries. This bibliography is arranged in alphabetical order of authors. Indexes have been prepared for names of authors, translators, compilers, names cited in titles, the titles of the articles and books and the titles of works cited in them.

Osmanlı Astronomi Literatürü Tarihi (The History of Ottoman Literature on Astronomy) prepared by Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Ramazan Şeşen, Cevat İzgı Cemil Akpınar, İhsan Fazlıoğlu, ed. E.İhsanoğlu, Research Center For Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), 2 vol., Istanbul 1997, CCIII + 1147 pp.

This work is the first book in the series on the history of Ottoman scientific; literature and deals with the astronomical works and biographies of 582 author* who flourished during the Ottoman period (14-20th centuries). It includes 24.W titles, mostly in Turkish and Arabic and a few in Persian as well as tin biographies and works of the authors. Books with known authors are deali chronologically under those items where their authors are mentioned. As for lh< anonymous books, they are classified according to the subject at the end ol th-work and the books under each subject are listed alphabetically. When dealih) with books whose compilers are known, first the biography of the compiler, hta scholarly achievements and astronomical works are mentioned in alphabetical order. The following information on each book is given: language, subject. contents, whether it is in print or not, its beginning, its copies located in world libraries and the necessary bibliography. The introduction in the first volume gives information on the science of astronomy and astronomical institutions in the Ottoman period. The following pages includes the text, bibliography and t lie indexes.

Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Büyük Cihad'dan Frenk Fodulluğu'na (From the Hnly War to European Vanity), İletişim Publications, Istanbul 1996, 272 pp. and 20 plates, (in Turkish).

The title of the book which contains five articles, denotes the shift from tl»# classical Islamic to the European scientific tradition in the Ottoman world. The first article is a survey dealing with the basic questions of Ottoman Science general lines of its development, notable personages and issues. Other articles examine the "classical period" of Ottoman educational and scientific life. 'I'hJM are about madrasas established by the Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror; contributions of scientists of Andalusian origin to Ottoman science; the introduction of modern astronomy to Ottoman State ; and an overview to the introduction of nuxlern sciences to Turkey .

Ongoing projects under the supervision of.staff members

Ottoman Science in the Modernisation Period (Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Feza Günergun) Project conducted at the İstanbul University Department of History of Science and sponsored by the Istanbul University Rectorate Research Fund. Project Nr. 446/121090.

This project aims to catalogue printed science books in Turkish published during the 200 year period between 1727 (when the first books in Turkish started to be printed in Turkey) and 1929 when the changeover from Arabic to Latin alphabet occured. Research was made in the following Istanbul libraries: Istanbul University Library, Beyazıt State Library, Millet Library, Hakkı Tarık Us Library and the Library of the Archeological Museum . Published catalogues and bibliogaphies were examined as well. As a result, 8272 titles related to science, technology, industy, scientific institutions etc. were determined and an alphabetical catalogue was prepared. Among them, 3827 were found in the library collections and their location numbers were indicated in the catalogue. The aim of the project is mainly to facilitate the work of researchers on Ottoman science, technology and industry, enabling them to have access to the Ottoman scientific literature of the 18th to 20th centuries.

History of Ottoman Mathematical Literature . (Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu & Ramazan Şeşen et al.), project conducted and sponsored by IRCICA.

The History of Ottoman Mathematical Literature i soon to be published, will be the second in IRCICA' s Series of History of Ottoman Scientific Literature. It will follow the same methodology as the first two volumes entitled History of Ottoman Astronomical Literature which were published in 1997. The book will cover the works of those mathematicians who lived in Ottoman lands and also the mathematical works the authors of which are unknown. Included are works on calculus , arithmetic algebra and collation, geometry, algorithms, chronograms weights and measures 3 properties of numbers, and partitions. The book will haw three parts. The introduction will briefly review the formation and development phases of Ottoman mathematics and give general information about 1 1n-mat hematicians who lived during the Ottoman period and their works, on the basis of the detailed statistical tables provided at the end of the introduction. The second part will cover the authors and their works, and the third, the works the authors <>i which are unknown. Each entry will be lor an author, where will be louiul In biography, his contributions to mathematical sciences, and information on In works listed in alphabetical order according to their titles. At the end of the book is a list of abbreviations and indexes of authors, titles of works, institutions, names of places, copyists utul plates whore the copies were made.

The book is expected to be an essential reference for those interested in history of science as well as in the history of Ottoman culture and civilization. Another important aspect of the book is that it will illustrate the trends and S of development of Ottoman culture and civilisation as they were influence by changes in political and socio-economic conditions.