Adnan Adıvar’s works in history of science: Prior to the La Science chez les Turcs Ottomans and thereafter

Year 2006, Volume: 7 Issue: 2 - Adnan Adıvar Özel Sayısı Cilt:7 Sayı:2, 13 - 54, 01.06.2006

Feza Günergun

Abstract

A well known figure of the 20th century Turkish politics and intellectual
life, Dr. Abdülhak Adnan Adıvar (1882-1955) was also a pioneer in the Turkish
historiography of science. He researched in a field hitherto disregarded: the
history of science in Turkey under the reign of the Ottomans. His major work
Osmanlı Türklerinde
İlim (1943), first published in French in 1939, surveys and
evaluates science in Turkey from the 13th up to 19th centuries. 

A. Adnan Adıvar, became interested in intellectual history after he left
Turkey in 1926. In a way, political circumstances which prevented him to
return, led him to research in history of science during his exile years (1926-
1939) in Europe. In London, he studied the interaction between science and
religion, inspired by the conferences of R.A.Millikan, A.N.Whitehead, and
A.S.Eddington published in late 1920s. His interest in the issue was probably
associated with his view of reconciling religion with modernization, i.e. Islamic
and Western thought in Turkey.

A.Adıvar settled in Paris in 1929. While carrying on his readings on
science and religion, he became acquainted with historians of science associated
with Académie Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences and the Centre
International de Sythèse. He started to correspond with G.Sarton and
collaborated with Aldo Mieli, and it is during his stay in Paris that he undertook
to work on Turkish history of science. He published his early articles on the
issue in Archeion. His first book La science chez les Turcs Ottomans came out
in Paris 1939, the year he returned to Istanbul. The Turkish enlarged edition
entitled Osmanlı Türklerinde
İlim (1943) was qualified by ‘modernists’ as an
‘impartial work’, but criticized by ‘traditionalists’ who considered it as a
“document against the Turks and that it appropriates Turkish achievements to
other races.” 

In his Istanbul years (1939-1955), A. Adnan Adıvar continued to publish
on history of science. His study on the science-religion interaction saw the press
in in two volumes in 1944 (Tarih Boyunca
İlim ve Din). Despite his
involvement in politics again in 1946, he chaired the editorial work of the
Turkish edition of the E.J.Brill’s (Leiden) Encyclopaedia of Islam, and wrote
biographical articles for it. Adıvar was also popular with his writings in daily
Istanbul newspapers. He not only contributed to the study of Turkish history of
science but to introduce the Turkish studies on history of science to
international community. 

Keywords

Abdulhak Adnan Adıvar, Turkish historiography of science, Ottoman science, Encyclopaedia of Islam, science and religion

Adnan Adıvar’ın Bilim Tarihi Çalışmaları: Osmanlı Türklerinde İlim’den Önce ve Sonra

Abstract

A well known figure of the 20th century Turkish politics and intellectual life, Dr. Abdülhak Adnan Adıvar (1882-1955) was also a pioneer in the Turkish historiography of science. He researched in a field hitherto disregarded: the history of science in Turkey under the reign of the Ottomans. His major work Osmanlı Türklerinde İlim (1943), first published in French in 1939, surveys and evaluates science in Turkey from the 13th up to 19th centuries. 

A. Adnan Adıvar, became interested in intellectual history after he left Turkey in 1926. In a way, political circumstances which prevented him to return, led him to research in history of science during his exile years (1926- 1939) in Europe. In London, he studied the interaction between science and religion, inspired by the conferences of R.A.Millikan, A.N.Whitehead, and A.S.Eddington published in late 1920s. His interest in the issue was probably associated with his view of reconciling religion with modernization, i.e. Islamic and Western thought in Turkey.

A.Adıvar settled in Paris in 1929. While carrying on his readings on science and religion, he became acquainted with historians of science associated with Académie Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences and the Centre International de Sythèse. He started to correspond with G.Sarton and collaborated with Aldo Mieli, and it is during his stay in Paris that he undertook to work on Turkish history of science. He published his early articles on the issue in Archeion. His first book La science chez les Turcs Ottomans came out in Paris 1939, the year he returned to Istanbul. The Turkish enlarged edition entitled Osmanlı Türklerinde İlim (1943) was qualified by ‘modernists’ as an ‘impartial work’, but criticized by ‘traditionalists’ who considered it as a “document against the Turks and that it appropriates Turkish achievements to other races.” 

In his Istanbul years (1939-1955), A. Adnan Adıvar continued to publish on history of science. His study on the science-religion interaction saw the press in in two volumes in 1944 (Tarih Boyunca İlim ve Din). Despite his involvement in politics again in 1946, he chaired the editorial work of the Turkish edition of the E.J.Brill’s (Leiden) Encyclopaedia of Islam, and wrote biographical articles for it. Adıvar was also popular with his writings in daily Istanbul newspapers. He not only contributed to the study of Turkish history of science but to introduce the Turkish studies on history of science to international community. 

Keywords

Abdülhak Adnan Adıvar, Türk bilim tarihi yazıcılığı, Osmanlı bilimi, İslam Ansiklopedisi, bilim ve din

References

• [0] Robert A. Millikan, “İlim ve Dinde Tekâmül” çev. Adnan Adıvar. Yazarın Evolution in Science and Religion (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1927, 95 s.) adlı eserinin çevirisidir. Yayımlanmamıştır. 1933
• [1] Dr. A. Adnan (review), “Salih Zeki. Athar-ı Baqiya, a history of Arabic mathematics. Two volumes, Istanbul 1911,” Isis, vol XIX, nr.3, 1933, pp.506-515.
• (Türkçe çevirisi için bkz. “Salih Zeki ve Asâr-ı Bâkiye,” Bilim Tarihi (Aylık Dergi), Sayı 11, Eylül 1992, s.3-9. çev. Yeşim Işıl-Ülman; Celal Saraç’ın 12 adet notuyla ve C.Saraç, Salih Zeki Bey Hayatı ve Eserleri, yay.haz. Y.Işıl Ülman, İstanbul, Kızılelma yay., 2001 içinde s.139-152). 1935
• [2] Abd-ul-hak Adnan, Hilmi Ziya Ülken'in Türk Tefekkür Tarihi I-II (İstanbul, 1932- 33) kitabının tanıtımı. Archeion, Vol.XVII, 1935, p. 288. [3] A. Adnan Adivar, “Ten Years of Republic in Turkey,” Political Quarterly, 6 (1935), p.240-252. 1936
• [4] Bertrand Russel, Felsefe Meseleleri. İngilizce’den Türkçe’ye çeviren Dr. Adnan, İstanbul, Yeni Kitapçı, 1936, 235 s.; 2.bs., mütercimi Abdülhak Adnan Adıvar. Remzi Kitabevi İstanbul 1944, 201 s.; 3.bs. Remzi Kitabevi İstanbul 1963, 220 s.
• 1936-1937 [5] “Shayh Gamal al-Din Afgani,” The Musulman (Calcutta), Special Eid issue 1936, No.6, 1937. (Adnan Adıvar’ın Cemaleddin Afgani’nin ırkı hakkındaki notu) 1937
• [6] Abd-ul-hak Adnan, İbn Sina, şahsiyeti ve eserleri hakkında tetkikler (İstanbul 1937) adlı eserin tanıtımı. Archeion, Vol.XIX (1937), Fasc.4, p.411-414. [7] Abd-ul-hak Adnan, “La Science chez les Turcs Ottomans du commencement jusqu’à la fin du moyen-âge,” Archeion, Vol.XIX (1937), Fasc.4, p.347-365. 1938
• [8] Abd-ul-hak Adnan, “La Science chez les Turcs Ottomans du commencement des temps modernes jusqu’aux premières années du XVIIe siècle,” Archeion, Vol.XXI (1938), Fasc.1-2, p. 35-61. 1939
• [9] Abdulhak Adnan. La Science chez les Turcs Ottomans. Librairie Orientale et Américaine, G.-P. Maisonneuve, Paris 1939, 161 +13 s. G. Sarton’un bu eser hakkındaki 1 Mayıs 1939 tarihli de ğerlendirmesi için bkz. Isis, vol.XXXII, 1940, p.186-189. 1940
• [10] Abdülhak Adnan, Faust: Tahlil Tecrübesi - Hulasa. Muallim Ahmet Halit Kitabevi, İstanbul 1940, 156 s. (Tarih Boyunca İlim ve Din’in iç kapa ğında “Faust - Tahlil Tecrübesi, İstanbul 1939” kaydı bulunmaktadır.
• [11] Molla Lutfi’l-Maqtul, La Duplication de l’Autel (Platon et le Problème de Délos) Texte arabe publié par Serefeddin Yaltkaya, Traduction française et introduction par Abdulhak Adnan et Henry Corbin [1903-1978], Paris, E. De Boccard 1940. 1-61-23 p.
• (Etudes orientales publiées par l’Institut français d’archéologie de Stamboul. VI. [12] Abdulhak Adnan, “Sur le Tansukname-i-Ilhani der Ulum-u-Funun-i-Khatai,” Isis, vol 32, 1940, s.44-47. 1943
• [13] Abdülhak Adnan-Adıvar, Osmanlı Türklerinde İlim, 2.bs. İstanbul Maarif Vekaleti 1943; 3.bs. Remzi Kitabevi, İstanbul 1970, 220 s.; geliştirilmiş 4.bs. (A. Kazancıgil ve S. Tekeli’nin katkılarıyla) Remzi Kitabevi, İstanbul 1982, 243 s.; 5. bs. Remzi Kitabevi, İstanbul 1991, 243 s.; 6. bs. Remzi Kitabevi, 2000, 243 s. 1944
• [14] Abdülhak Adnan-Adıvar, Tarih Boyunca İlim ve Din. 2 cilt (c.I: İbtidadan XIX. asra kadar, c.II: XIX. ve XX. Asırlar). Remzi Kitabevi, İstanbul Kenan Matbaası 1944,
• 360 + 286 s.; Hayrullah Örs tarafından yeniden gözden geçirilmiş 2.bs. Remzi Kitabevi, İstanbul 1969, 623 s.; Esat Mermi Erendor tarafından gözden geçirilmiş 3.bs., Bilim ve Din (İlim ve Din), Remzi Kitabevi, İstanbul 1980, 487 s.; 4. bs. Bilim ve Din, Remzi
• Kitabevi, İstanbul 1987, 487 s.; 5.bs. Tarih Boyunca İlim ve Din (Bilim ve Din alt başlığı ile) Remzi Kitabevi, İstanbul 1994, 487 s.; 6.bs. Tarih Boyunca İlim ve Din. Remzi Kitabevi, İstanbul 2000, 487 s. 1945
• [15] Abdülhak Adnan-Adıvar, Bilgi Cumhuriyeti Haberleri. Tasvir Neşriyatı, Ebuzziya Matbaası, İstanbul 1945, 262 s.
• [16] Abdülhak Adnan-Adıvar, “Rakamların Tarihi”, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Dergisi, c.III; sayı 1, 1945, s. 35-43. 1946
• [17] A. Adnan-Adıvar, “Bir Türkçe, bir Arapça ilim tarihi,” Akademi Fikir Hareketleri, c.1, sayı 4, 15 Haziran 1946, s.1-2. 1947
• [18] Abdulhak Adnan Adıvar, “Islamic and Western Thought in Turkey,” The Middle East Journal (The Middle East Institute, Washington), vol.I, Nr.3, July1947, s.270-280.
• [19] Abdülhak Adnan Adıvar, Fârâbi 870-950. İstanbul Üniversitesi Tıp Tarihi Enstitüsü Yay. No.12. İstanbul, Milli E ğitim Basımevi 1947, 56 s. İslam Ansiklopedisi, c.IV, MEB, İstanbul, s.451-469’den ayrıbaskı) 1949
• [20] Abdulhak Adnan-Adıvar, “George Sarton: Introduction to the History of Science vol.III”, Oriens, c.II, 1949, s.155-157. [21] Abdülhak Adnan-Adıvar, “İlim tarihi içinde şark matemati ğine bir bakış,” İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Dergisi, c.7, sayı 1-2, 1949, s.1-9. 1950
• [22] Abdülhak Adnan-Adıvar, Dur Düşün. Ahmed Halid Kitabevi, İstanbul 1950. 240 s. 1951
• [23] A. Adnan-Adıvar, “Tarih ve Biyografya” Tarih Dergisi (İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi), c.II, sayı 3-4, 1950-51, s.1-6.
• [24] Abdulhak Adnan-Adivar, “The Interaction of Islamic and Western Thought in Turkey,” in Near Eastern Culture and Society: A symposium on the Meeting of East and West. Ed. T.Cuyler Young, Princeton Oriental Studies, 15. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press 1951 (2nd ed. 1966), p.119-129. Türkçe çevirisi için bkz. “Türkiye’de İslami ve Batılı Fikirlerin Etkileşimi” başlığı ile Türk Yurdu (Ankara), c.10, sayı 39/385, 1990, s.35-39. 1953
• [25] Abdulhak Adnan-Adivar, “A Turkish Account of Orientalism, a translation of the Introduction to the Turkish Edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam,” Muslim World. October 1953, s.260-282. 52 Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları VII/2 (2006)
• [26] A. Adnan-Adıvar, “Tarih Anlayışı,” Fuad Köprülü Arma ğanı’ndan ayrı basım. Osman Yalçın Matbaası, İstanbul 1953, s.1-3.
• [27] A. Adnan-Adıvar, “Bizans’da Yüksek Mektebler,” Tarih Dergisi (İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi), c.V, sayı 8, Eylül 1953, s.1-54. Ayrıbasım Osman Yalçın Matbaası İstanbul 1953, 54 s. 1954
• [28] Abdülhak Adnan Adıvar, Hakikat Peşinde Emeklemeler. Do ğan Kardeş Basımevi, İstanbul 1954. 24x17, 296 s.
• [29] A. Adnan-Adıvar, “İstanbul’un fethi sırasında Bizans ve Türk kültür vaziyeti,” Tarih Dergisi (İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi), c.VI, sayı 9, Mart 1954, s.1-14. (Ayrıbaskı, İstanbul OsmanYalçın Matbaası 1954). 1955
• [30] A. Adnan Adivar, “The cultural situation of Byzantines and Turks at the time of the conquest of Constantinople, 1453,” The Muslim World, vol. 45 (1955), p.61-71.
• [31] A. Adnan Adıvar, “Ibn Sina et l’alchimie,” Professor Muhammed Shafi Presentation Volume. Armagan-ı ilmi. Ed. Abdullah, S.M., Lahore 1955, p.1-3. Reprint in Natural Sciences in Islam, Vol.60, Chemistry and Alchemy Texts and Studies VI. Collected and reprinted by F.Sezgin et al., Institute fort he History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfut am Main 2001, p. 347- 349.
• [32] A. Adnan-Adıvar, “Tarih Anlayışı,” Yeni Ufuklar, sayı 21(37), Haziran 1955, s.1-3. 1960 [33] A. Adnan Adıvar, “Ali b. Muhammad al-Kushdji,” The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Vol.1, E.J.Brill, Leiden 1960, p.393. Ansiklopedi maddeleri:
• [34] Adnan Adıvar, Encyclopaedia Britannica’nın “Turkey” maddesinin ‘History, The Ottoman Sultanate’ alt başlığının Mohammed I (1413-1421)’den Treaty of Lausanne’ın sonuna kadar Geoffey L.Lewis ile beraber; ‘The Republic’ alt başlığının başından Foreign Affairs’in ortasına kadar Albert Howe Lybyer ve Arthur Cecil Edwards ile birlikte yazmıştır. Adıvar’ın bu katkısı 1929 baskıda (14. baskı) yayımlanmış ise de, biz 1959 baskısını inceledi ğimiz için o baskının künyesini verebiliyoruz: Enyclopaedia Britannica, Vol.22, London-Chicago-Toronto 1959, s.590-611.