Adnan Adıvar on praise and appraisal

Şeref Etker

Abdülhak Adnan Adıvar (1882-1955), physician, liberal politician, and historian of science, published his pioneering study entitled La science chez les Turcs Ottomans (1939) in Paris. The small volume was received with genuine interest by Western scholars. The second revised and enlarged edition published in Istanbul: Osmanlı Türklerinde İlim (1943) caused controversy among Turkish intellectuals: Adnan Adıvar was lauded a as 'savant' by some literati, an attribute which he immediately shied away from. He was not deterred by chauvinistic reactions either. What Adıvar esteemed was criticism that would allow him to reconsider his reading of primary sources, and to position his conclusions in a universal perspective. Prof. Fuat Köprülü's recension published in the daily Akşam was of particular significance. It is noteworthy that Adnan Adıvar himself had earlier expressed similar views in his assesment of  Süheyl Ünver's Selçuklu Tababeti (1940). Hasan Ali Yücel was both a personal supporter and a critique of Advar.

Key words: Adnan Adıvar, Fuat Köprülü, Ali Nüzhet Göksel, Hasan Ali Yücel, history of science, critique; Anahtar kelimler: Adnan Adıvar, Fuat Köprülü, Ali Nüzhet Göksel, Hasan Ali Yücel, bilim tarihi, eleştiri.