New publication: Osmanlı astroloji literatürü tarihi

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New publication: Osmanlı astroloji literatürü tarihi

Osmanlı astroloji literatürü tarihi ve Osmanlı astronomi literatürü tarihi zeyli / History of Ottoman astrology literature and supplement to the history of Ottoman astronomy literature (Vol. I) and Osmanlı Bilim Literatürü Tarihi Zeylleri (Matematik, Coğrafya, Musiki, Askerlik, Tabii ve Tatbiki Bilimler, Tıbbi Bilimler) ve Osmanlı Mavzu’at al-Ulum Literatürü Tarihi / Supplements to the History of Ottoman Scientifi Literature (Mathematical, Geographical, Music, Military Arts, Natural and Applied Sciences, and Medical Sciences Literature) and History of Ottoman Classification of Sciences Literature (Vol. II) prepared by Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Ramazan Şeşen, M. Serdar Bekar, Gülcan Gündüz, Veysel Bulut, Editor: Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Preface: Halit Eren, Series of Studies and Sources on History of Science; No. 16, History of Ottoman Literature of Science Series; No. 8, IRCICA, Istanbul, 2011

The 16th and 17th volumes of the series that IRCICA has been publishing for fourteen years now under the title History of Ottoman Scientific Literature have appeared. This series consisting of bio-bibliographies resulted from a project that was launched in 1985 under the initiative of Prof. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu and implemented since then by IRCICA’s Department of Bibliographies and Manuscripts, which is chaired by the eminent specialist of history of science and Islamic manuscripts Professor Ramazan Şeşen. The project aims at assessing and recording the scientific activity that was conducted within the Ottoman geography during the six hundred-years Ottoman period. Its findings were compiled in bio-bibliographies arranged according to the fields of science, namely astronomy (1997), mathematics (1999), geography (2000), music (2002), military arts (2004), natural and applied sciences (2006), medical sciences (2009) and the present one, astrology (2011).

The series on History of Ottoman Scientific Literature contributed in increasing knowledge on the scientific heritage of the Ottoman period which is one of the weighty and important parts of history of science in Islam. Hundreds of scientists and thousands of works have been recorded in this series for each field of science. From among the volumes published earlier, those on astronomy deal with 582 authors and 2438 works. In the field of mathematics, 963 works written by 491 scientists and 153 other works, i.e. 1116 works in total, are introduced. The book on geography, cosmography and cartography, third in the series, covers 1628 works; the authors of 727 of them are introduced, while those of the remaining 901 are not known. As to the book on the history of musical literature, it introduces 223 authors and 440 works belonging to them, together with 273 works the authors of which are unknown. The volumes covering publications such as books, articles, laws and regulations about military arts and subjects cite 3273 publications in total; the authors of 1546 of them are not known. The volumes on natural and applied sciences relating to physics, chemistry, mineralogy, geology, botanical science, zoology, and the sciences of their applications, i.e. engineering, manufacturing, agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry cover 3354 works; the authors/translators of 2407 of them are introduced, while those of 926 are not known. The volumes on medical sciences, dentistry, pharmacology and veterinary sciences cover 5607 books and articles authored by 1430 scientists.

The first of the two volumes published in 2011 consist of the bio-bibliography on the history of astrology, as an eighth field of science covered by the series, together with additions and corrections – supplements to the volume on astronomy, which was the first volume in the series. The second volume contains the supplements to the volumes published earlier on mathematics, geography, music, military arts, natural and applied sciences, and medical sciences on one hand, and a bibliography of on books on the classification and methodology of sciences written during the Ottoman period, on the other. Some additions were made to the entries about authors included in earlier volumes; thus, information obtained later about 218 authors and their works was added. A list of nearly 2000 maps was added to the supplement to the volume on geography. The Introduction by Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu recapitulates the overall features and findings of the project during the twenty-five years of its implementation. It also gives valuable information on the science of astrology in Islam, how it was perceived and practiced, a classification and description of the main types of works on astrology observable in the body of Ottoman astrology literature, and an evaluation of the main trend and features of scientific activity conducted in this field in the Muslim world.

The series will conclude with a volume, forthcoming, to contain the index for the 17 volumes published until the present.