Review of E.İhsanoğlu's book "The House of Sciences: The First Modern University in the Muslim World", Oxford University Press, 2019,

Year 2021, Issue: 6, 287 - 290, 30.06.2021

Tuncay Zorlu

Abstract

The House of Sciences is an important contribution to the Ottoman studies in general with its rich sources, comparative approach, scope of coverage, and analytical framework, when we consider that it could provide the researchers studying various aspects of the Ottoman Empire with an insight into Ottoman scientific heritage and help broaden their perspective, and introduce a new type of data to the academy. However, this book is particularly substantial in the trajectory of “Ottoman history of science and technology” studies, which is a relatively neglected, less-studied or less-preferred area, due mostly to sui generis jargon, know-how and additional requirements in terms of technical knowledge. Therefore, The House of Sciences, like many other books previously written by İhsanoglu, should be acknowledged as a milestone or a founding work for the developmental process of the discipline both at home and in the world. Moreover, the author’s attempt to situate the Ottoman scientific/scholarly experiment in a global context constitutes another character of the book that should be taken into consideration.

Keywords

Darulfünun, History of Science, Education, İstanbul University