Science and Technology

THE ISLAMIC WORLD HIST 1301 | History Science and Technology Following the model of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs as well as other notable Muslim leaders, the Ottoman sultans purposefully set out to become patrons of science and study as their realm rose in stature and size. All education was centred around religion; there was no distinction made between the "hard sciences"—such as chemistry, physics, astronomy, and mathematics—and what is now regarded as religious philosophy or doctrinal studies. In contrast, because science explored and discovered the complexities of the cosmos created by God, it was thought to be an act of devotion. Madrasas, or higher education institutes, have been in the state's major cities since its founding. Under Sultan Mehmed II, patronage of the arts, sciences, and culture reached a new height. In the new capital, Mehmed established the first university, the Fatih complex, which also included a hospital, public kitchens, a library, and schools. Even into the eighteenth century, the Fatih hospital continued to function. As Istanbul grew as the imperial capital, several more organisations of this kind were founded there as well. Another complex of charity organisations was a teaching hospital funded by Sultan Suleiman's wife Hurrem Sultan. It was the first in Istanbul to be planned and constructed by the renowned architect and engineer Mimar Sinan, who was of Armenian descent. Because these trusts were free from inheritance taxes, it was also popular for rich Jewish and Christian patrons to create their own vaqfs to finance community-beneficial initiatives. Considering that hospital care was free of charge, teaching hospitals were regarded as significant beneficiaries of vaqf monies. Because it was now able to compare the outcomes of medical treatments and experiments in several distinct geographic and climatic zones, the geographic variety of the empire aided in the advancement of medical knowledge. Because of this, the Ottoman Empire produced a large number of significant medical treatises during the time. The Canon of Medicine, written in the tenth century by renowned Muslim academics and physician Ibn Sina, served as the cornerstone for the medical literature tradition. One of the earliest dental treatises was authored by the Spanish Jewish scholar Musa bin Hamun, who settled in the Ottoman Empire following the expulsion of Jews from Spain, among the works created by doctors who settled there. Sultan Murad III requested Taqi al-Din, one of the greatest scientists of the Ottoman Empire, to construct an observatory in Istanbul. Reportedly, Taqi al-Din's approach of determining star coordinates was superior to those of renowned astronomers operating in northern Europe at the same time, Tycho Brahe and Nicolas Copernicus. Taqi al-Din also studied the optical refraction of light and created mechanical clocks and steam turbines. He himself had set out to improve on astronomical techniques developed by Ulugh Beg at Samarkand (in today's Uzbekistan), and in turn Tycho Brahe in Denmark consulted his own research when Brahe was developing his ideas about astronomy. His work demonstrates the way scientific discoveries transcended religious and national divisions. The seventeenth-century Dutch mathematician Jacob Golius also amassed a collection of Taqi al-Din's writings, which he later donated to the Leiden University library in the Netherlands.