An annotated bibliography on the history of physics and medical physics in Turkey during the XIXth and XXth centuries

Aykut Kazancıgil

The progress of pure sciences in general, and physics in particular, during the XIXth century was pronounced in Turkey in educational institutions such as the School of Engineering, the Military Academy, and the Imperial School of Medicine. Physics became an independent discipline with the foundation of the Faculty of Sciences in the beginning of the 20th century. The present annotated bibliography includes publications on the history of physics and medical physics printed between 1849 and 2004.

Texts related to physics predating 1849, do not, in essence, reflect a scientific character, and are sketchy. For this reason, they have not been included in this bibliography. The book published by Hayrullah Efendi, professor at the School of Medicine, entitled 'Problems of Physics' (Mesail-i Hikmet, 1849) is being accepted as the first publication of this bibliography. In the next four decades, physics appears a subject devoted mainly to the understanding of mechanics and ballistics. It was at the end of the 19th century that physics and mathematics emerged as pure sciences in the curricula of the university (Darülfünun) under the tutorial of professor Salih Zeki (1864-1921). In 1930, Fahir Yeniçay, after completing a doctorate in physics in France, started courses in nuclear physics, heralding the coming of modern physics in Turkey. Our current bibliography includes 449 publications in the given period, of which 85 have been annotated.

Key words: physics, medical physics, history of physics, bibliography, Turkey; Anahtar kelimeler: fizik, tıbbi fizik, fizik tarihi, bibliyografya, Türkiye.