What is Ottoman Scientific Heritage about?
This book is a key historical reference, indispensable source, and significant novel contribution. It is no exaggeration to say that this is a gem among Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation’s prized publications, as it covers an important period in the history of Islamic heritage, hitherto neglected by most historians of the sciences.
The book presents the finest of Ottoman scientific heritage, revealing achievements in science and civilisation, and contributions to the cumulative human heritage, secured under the patronage of the Ottoman State throughout its six centuries of history. This huge study covered around five thousand scholars, twenty thousand works, and twenty-five thousand manuscript copies.
The book comprises two volumes. The first volume presents an extensive analysis and study of Ottoman scientific heritage, comprising history, concept, origin, and coverage, as well as the translation movement, and teaching of rational sciences. It also addressed the modernity and modernisation phase, and the early appearance of new scientific institutions, as a result of connecting with Europe, especially, and with the West, in general. The second volume comprising two parts, meticulously presents the full scientific works of 370 of the most eminent scholars, selected from across the Ottoman geography, as well as 92 important texts from among 7,145 anonymous works.
Given the great importance of this large reference work, Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation resolved to undertake its translation from Turkish to Arabic. The aim is to provide access and facilitate benefit to a broader audience, as well as satisfy a growing and pressing need.
While the book fills a huge gap in the bibliographic field, it is also a compendium of numerous sciences, knowledge domains, and disciplines; for example, works on mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, battle techniques and weapons, medicine, pharmacy, veterinary science, geography, cartography, geology, agricultural science, forestry engineering, architecture, and music, authored in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and some European languages, during the 18th and 19th century.
The release of this book represents a new breakthrough and substantial achievement, as well as valuable key and turning point, paving the way for novel and important studies relating to the history of Muslim science. It is also a landmark work shining light on the continued progress in Muslim science during the Ottoman period.