Science, Technology and Industry in the Ottoman World

This volume gathers together the papers of the Symposium on Science, Technology and Industry in the Ottoman World which was organized within the XXth International Congress of History of Science held in Liège in July 1997. This symposium was the first to focus exclusively on the Ottoman World within the congresses convened by the International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science (IUHPS).

Scholarly interest in the scientific activities caried out in various geographical areas of the Ottoman Empire between the 14th and 20th century yielded a growing number of studies in recent years. The initial findings of these studies led scholars to question the view that Islamic science went into a decline after the 12th century, and to argue that Ottoman science constituted a new episode in Islamic science.

The present volume begins with a survey on the Ottomans' transition from the Islamic to the European scientific tradition. This survey is followed by research papers dealing with: the introduction of modern science and technology to Turkey in the 18th and 19th centuries as regards the military technical training, the first railway line in Asiatic Turkey and the teaching of modern botany; the introduction of modern medicine and Darwinism in Egypt; Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt from the viewpoint of history of science and technology; and the mathematical activities in the Maghreb in both pre-Ottoman and Ottoman periods.