Researching, compiling and analysing geophysical ideas and measurements in historical periods will contribute to the historical development of earth science. Also, this is important for geophysicists working on time-dependent (historical) data and revealing the physical properties of the earth. This paper is focused on the earth and its sciences (with concepts, ideas and measurements) in classical Islamic science in the Ottoman Empire and the evolution of these thoughts and concepts in the context of the transition to modern science. The pre-modern period of science in Islamic geographies is represented by Aristotelian science and some original contributions. In the geophysical sciences of the Ottoman Empire, earthquakes and weather events are explained by his views and ideas. Modern concepts and scientific measurements of geophysical events such as magnetic, seismologic and meteorologic events were systematically begun by observatories. Before this, there are some individual measurements.
In the 16th century that term “modern” (from late Latin
Istanbul has been given different names throughout the ages. These city names are related to different periods of urban history. The historic development of this city can be divided into five major periods: the prehistoric era, era of Byzantium, Eastern Roman period, Ottoman period and period of Turkey. Istanbul is a city that has been among the most important and biggest metropolises of the world for about 16 centuries from the 4th century to the 20th century. It has been a representative of a large region where the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa meet and has managed to influence world history significantly in this process. In this study we focused on the Ottoman period. Our study was based on the investigation of geophysical ideas and measurements in the Ottoman geography in transition from the pre-modern (Islamic) to the modern (Western) period. The pre-modern–modern dilemma along Islamic–Western cultures may be problematic. Another alternative for this context may be “Aristotelian science–Newtonian science”. Before the Newtonian era, science in Islamic and Western geographies was mainly driven by Aristotelian science. This paper is a continuation of works by Ozcep and Ozcep (2014) and Ozcep (2018).
This section will provide a broad view of the Islamic intellectual legacy for two reasons. (1) This is important for the transition period to understand the pre-modern and modern. (2) Earth science in Ottoman geographies is a new field of research, and many topics related to this are unknown in the integrated context. Because of these reasons, it was necessary to be explained on a large scale.
The Orkhon inscriptions that were written about the legendary origins of the Turks were
erected in the Orkhon Valley in Mongolia in the early eight century by the
Göktürks. A naturalistic belief among ancient Turks is explained as
“Science” is directly translated as
Harun al-Rashid (caliph of Islam from 786 to his death) was the patron of science, art and literature. Many more Greek works were translated by his order (Sarton, 1927).
As George Sarton pointed out: The ninth century was essentially a Muslim century, to be sure, intellectual work did not cease… Activities of Muslim scholar was overwhelmingly superior. They were superiors in almost every respect… Consider only first half of century, leading men of science, Al-Kindi, Al-Kharizmi, Al-Farghani were all Muslim…
Al-Biruni (973, after 1050), as Sarton (1927) points out, was one of the very
greatest scientists of Islam, and all considered one of the greatest of all
time. Al-Biruni has a book entitled
On the other hand, the book of
Since pre-Islamic times meteorological phenomena have been of interest to Arabic
people due to the practical importance in daily life. The reflection of this
practical interest is seen in the works of poets, grammarians and
lexicographers (Sersen, 1976; Sayili, 1940). The science of upper phenomena
(
Al-Kindi is an encyclopedic scientist and has knowledge of Greek science and philosophy. His works deals with mathematics, astrology, physics, music, medicine, pharmacy and geography (Sarton, 1927). Al-Kindi's contributions include some letters on precipitation and wind. His view in these subjects are different from Aristotle and Theophrastus. He considered the cause of rain to be the motion of the celestial bodies to the north and south that occurs due to the obliquity of the elliptic nature of these bodies, with the sun exerting the most important influence, and he also claims that the clouds are formed when exhalation rises to cold layers of the atmosphere (Lettinck, 1999). Al-Kindi wrote epistles on tides, earthquakes and interior process (Al-Ravi, 2014).
The
Ibn Sina has a philosophical encyclopedia named Ibn Sina's observations on earthquakes are interesting. They occur
due to the movement of a piece of the earth underneath. The earth is either
smoky and vapors, as powerful as wind, or a flowing watery body, or on airy
body. Sometimes earthquakes occur due to causes above the earth, such as
mountain peaks or large blocks (of stones) falling violently and causing an
earthquakes. The cause of this is a powerful mineralizing and petrifying virtue, which
arises in certain stony spots, or emanates suddenly from earth during
earthquakes and subsidences, and petrifies whatever comes into contact with
it…
Al-Farabi (in Latin Alpharabius), a Muslim neo-platonist and encyclopedist,
continued the harmonization of Greek philosophy with Islam. This
harmonization was begun by Al-Kindi. And all this was prepared a way for Ibn
Sina. Farabi has a number of commentaries on Aristotle (physics,
meteorology, logical treatises, etc.). One of the most important books of
Farabi is
There are several authors which have books related to the earth sciences.
For example, Utarid Ibn Mohammed al-Hasib has the oldest Muslim lapidary
(gemologist) extent of research which deals with properties of precious stones (Sarton,
1927). The main work of Abu-l Hasan Ali Ibn Sahl is As to the cause that above earth, it is because small (pieces) of
mountains fall and then earth is shaken by earthquake. Sometimes there are for earthquakes causes above the earth, like a
mountain to which it happens that small or big of its parts fall down
violently so that the earth is shaken by an earthquake.
Aristotle's
The polymath Al-Suyuti (1445–1505) presents a treatise related to
earthquakes, and this is the earliest study of earthquakes in the Islamic
world. In his
Related to the earthquakes there are three groups of authors that define and explain it and its effects (Hirshler, 2006): (1) Al-Kindi, Al-Biruni and Ibn Sina explain with pneumatic theories of earthquakes of Aristotle; (2) Al-Suyuti explains earthquakes as God's immediate will; and (3) some authors also explain the cause of earthquakes as astrophysical circumstances such as planetary constellations and comets with long tails.
Also various stones and gems was studied for their medicinal properties (Iqbal, 2007).
Berberian (2014, p. 84) has mentioned the book titled The occurrence of earthquake from `dry-hot air' [`adkhaneh']
is in this way that since the large amount of `hot-dry air' which is devoid of water droplets, is light, and is a kind of air, is formed out of its original place. Therefore, it is inclined to escape from an imprisoned location and ascends to reach its natural location. Now if these `hot-dry air' are located in naturally soft grounds, or areas, which due to large numbers of qanats and deep wells have abundant voids and holes, they can easily escape and would not cause earthquake. The calamities which sometimes hit the Earth from up and down have different quantities and qualities. In most cases the Earth has experienced unimaginable severe disasters which were not predictable or treatable. Some disasters such as storms, or earthquakes which are associated with crustal faulting, inundation by water, burring rocks or ashes, thunder and lightning, or rock avalanches, etc., all cause damage and destruction. Hence, a vast area loses its population and after a period of passing the calamity, the area becomes alive again show signs of life. As for the hollows, caves and deep pits in the ground and mountains, when these waters don't have holes to come out, these waters remain in prison for a certain period of time. When the interior of the earth and the depths of these mountains get warmer, these waters also heat up, become thinner and dissolve into steam. It rises and requires a larger space. If the ground shaking occurs a lot, it dissolves, and the vapors come out of these holes. If the density of the earth surface is severe and strong, it prevents the release of vapors. In these pits, they are waved in jail with the desire to come out. Maybe the earth will split through a point and these winds will come out suddenly. Where it comes out also sinks. This is called the sound of collapse and the earthquake. If they cannot find a way out, they will remain in prison. Earthquake continues until the air of these caves and pits cools and the vapors solidify. …His soul then looks toward the blowing of a wind, the falling of rain, an attack of a storm, or a quaking of the earth for the annihilating of a people – all this being contingent on the occurrence of coldness, heat, or motion in the atmosphere – causing the cold or heat in his soul, from which these things are generated without the presence of a manifest natural cause. This, then, would be a miracle for the prophet… The formation of heights [mountains] is brought about by [i] an essential cause, and [ii] an accidental cause. The essential cause [is concerned] when, as in many violent earthquakes, the wind, which produces the earthquakes, raises a part of the ground, and a height is suddenly formed [uplift]. In heaven is seen the bull we name Parwin, Beneath the earth another lurks unseen; And thus, to wisdom's eyes mankind appear A drove of asses, two great bulls between! It is only due to condensed steam that the waters flow towards their natural deposits and from the springs. Earthquakes are also like this. The cause of the vapors has been previously explained. So the real reason for all the movements is light. Qaf (or Kaf) mountain said: Those mountains are my veins… they are not equal to me in beauty. I have a secret vein in every city… The sphere of the world connected to my veins. God tells me if he wants to make earthquakes in a city, I will move the vein up there. When a large number of water vapor and smoke vapor are combined to form a whole… And the surface of the earth is solid without voids and non-porous, if this is the case, if the vapors want to rise, the pores and passages will not find, as a result, the individual hits of the earth will create shaking (earthquake) and begin to act more violently. Just like the body of patients with severe fever is affected… In these, igniting with the heat that is planted by nature, makes it fluid, dissolves, turns it into steam and smoke and comes through the pores on the skin of the body; as a result, the body vibrates and shakes, until the substance is exhausted. When they go out, relax. Similarly, individual regions have now taken action in the earthquake.
Averroes states that earthquakes are caused by dry exhalation that moves and returns to the ground (Lettinck, 1999). He mentions the following confirmatory facts: only the wind (air) between the elements can develop a motive force strong enough to shake the place, just as it can ignite fire and cause waves on water. Earthquakes occur most often when wind is formed, that is, in spring and autumn. When no wind blows, that is, they do not exist in extreme heat and cold. The effective cause of these earthquakes and winds proves to be similar.
The history of the Ottoman Empire may be divided into two periods, or episodes, known as the pre-modern (or classical) period and the modern period. Science in the Ottoman Empire came into existence in the pre-modern period as a mixture of natural history and natural philosophy. This mixture was based on the scientific traditions and institutions of Seljuk Turks (İhsanoğlu, 2004; Ozcep and Ozcep, 2014). These scientific activities were performed on a large scale by scholars of different Islamic countries such as Egypt, Syria, Iran and Turkistan. The modern period began in the 17th century when there was exposure to European scientific literature via translations and personal observations by Ottoman ambassadors (İhsanoğlu, 1997).
The foundation for science and education in the classical period of the
Ottoman Empire was the madrasas, or colleges. Activity at the madrasa continued from the
beginning of the Ottoman state (the first madrasa was established as Iznik
Madrasa in 1330) to the turn of the 20th century (İhsanoğlu, 1997).
Original works in mathematics, astronomy and medicine were carried out, and
the results translated into Arabic, Turkish and Persian (İhsanoğlu,
1997). As Hagen (2012) emphasized, the systems of knowledge and knowledge
production were centred on the Ottoman imperial household and the households
of the governing elite, together with the upper echelons of the learned
class (
Ancient Turks considered (Kahya, 2002a, b) the universe a whole. For this reason, according to Kahya (2002a) they gave importance to human beings, animals, plants and the sky, and the events that occur in it. In the Oghuz Khan epic, one of the most significant epics produced by Turks, natural relationships were presented such as countries, seasons, climate and cosmology. Eberhard defined traditional Turkish religion as a “Turkish sky” religion composed of the cults of the sun and the moon (Gungor, 2012). On the other hand, the scientific background of Turks who settled in Anatolia was Islamic, and they accepted Islamic cosmology that was based on the religion and developed in accordance with the Quran (İhsanoğlu and Ayduz, 2002).
One of the most important Turkish scholars (of the medieval Islamic world) is
Mahmud Kasgari, who compiled the first Turkish dictionary. In his
Yusuf Has Hacib (Yusuf Balasaguni, 1018–1077), another important thinker of
the era, presented his work titled
Ottomans encountered numerous scientific traditions, chronologically and
spatially. These scientific traditions stem from the Islamic world, Byzantine world, Mediterranean world and Western Europe (Shefer-Mossensohn, 2015). The
term theoretical sciences (theology and natural and mathematical sciences) practical sciences (ethics, politics, administration and domestic economy) sciences prescribed by religious law esoteric sciences or knowledge of the inward (
Detailed classifications of natural science according to Taskoruluzade are the
following (Izgi, 1999):
As shown in the list, half of the sciences are formed as occult sciences. In
this context, natural sciences are one of the magician's materials.
One of the earliest accounts of Ottoman science is Adnan Adivar's
The first madrasas built in the regions mostly populated by Turks were located
in Tokat and in Niksar by Danismentogullari in the 12th century
(İhsanoğlu and Ayduz, 2002; İhsanoğlu, 2005). The madrasa system inherited from
Seljuk Turks was adopted and enriched by the Ottomans (İhsanoğlu, 2005). By the
Ottoman period, Al-Gazzali's thought dominated Sunni Islam and the Ottoman
madrasas which followed most broad-minded traditions of Sunni Islam (İnalcık,
1973). The Ottoman ruling class (Yalcinkaya, 2010) was traditionally formed
in three sections: (1)
In the classical period of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul Observatory was founded by
Takiyyuddin Mehmet, the sultan's chief astronomer, for the purpose of
correcting Ulugh Beg's astronomical tables (
Ottoman interest for Western science and culture started from the late 16th
century with a selective approach in the fields (İhsanoğlu and Ayduz, 2002).
The process of Ottoman modernization is a complex phenomenon (Burçak,
2008). As Ozdalga (2005) said, modernization not only brought market
principles to the economy and more complex administrative controls as part
of state power but also new education intuitions as well as new ideologies.
Related to modern science in the Ottoman Empire, according to İhsanoğlu, some
translation projects began in the seventh century. Because the Ottomans
considered themselves above the Europeans in the spiritual and cultural
senses, there is no need to fellow intellectual and scientific activities
such as the “Renaissance” and “Scientific Revolution” (İhsanoğlu and Ayduz,
2002). But the military superiority of Europe is an exception. The failures of
the Ottoman Empire in the military area in the 18th century was the main
motivation for reforms and improvements in these areas introduced by
administrators (Erdogan, 2013). As a continuation of these efforts, a
military restructuring caused the formation of the first modern school of
Tibhane-I Amire, and this school was opened in 1827 to fulfil the need of
medical doctors for the military (Erdogan, 2013). In this context for
military purposes, modern Ottoman institutions were established, first Hendesehane and
later Muhendishane (School of Engineering) for modern military training,
based on the French system (École Polytechnique) (İhsanoğlu and Ayduz,
2002). Related to development of modern science in the Ottoman Empire, the term
One of the first translations within astronomy was parts of the French
astronomer Noel Duret's work
Geography, medicine and astronomy appear to be the fields that brought the Ottomans into
relation with the modern Western world on several different levels
(İhsanoğlu and Ayduz, 2002). The first modern science and engineering
institutions in Ottoman Turkey were Hendesehane (1734), Muhendishane-I Bahri
Humayun (1773) and Muhendishane-I Berri Humayun (1795). As a higher-education institution, the idea of
Among the Ottoman geographers, Piri Reis has been a most important figure with
monumental studies in the field. His book named
Izgi (1997) gives detailed notes related to geology at Ottoman madrasas.
The following statements were taken from his book of
The first Ottoman geology book was translated by Mehmet Ali Fethi Efendi of
Ruscuklu. This book is originally in French, but then it was translated into
Arabic. This Arabic translation was secondly translated into Turkish as
The main sources of the books based on mineralogy in the Ottoman Empire are
Al-Biruni's
In his Science of mineralogy and mining (
In his same book he also mentioned Gemology (
According to Izgi (1997), the main sources in mining, mineralogy and gemology in
Ottoman geography are the following.
Name: Name: Name: Name: Name: Name: Name: Name: Name: Name: Name: Name: Some observations on time determination were performed for religious purposes. Needed information about geography due to the growing of the Ottoman Empire was gathered.
There are translations from Arabic and Persian followed by original contributions
in the field of marine geography (Piri Reis). For practical needs, technical information was produced. Western science influenced Ottoman geography via translations (
Before
Relating to the modern period, there are books concerning geology in the
Ottoman Empire (Erguvanlı, 1978). There are 24 books from the Ottoman period
written with Arabic script in Turkish (Erguvanlı, 1978). These books were
written for high-school and university (Darulfunun) students, and 70 % of
these books have been translated into Arabic, English, French and German.
The other 30 % were Turkish contributors with geological
examples of Turkey. The first geology book in the Ottoman Empire was written by
Mehmet Ali Fethi,
Some of these books are given in the following (Ozcep and Ozcep, 2014).
1852 – Mehmet Ali Fethi: 1875 – Abdullah Bey (translated by Dr. I. Lütfi): 1889 – Halil Ethem: 1899 – Halil Ethem: 1907 – Hüseyin Remzi: 1844 – Mehmet Nazım: 1887 – Hüseyin Remzi: 1887 – Ali Fuat (translated by Dr. Yüzbası): 1887 – Le Coq (Lökok Pa ̧sa, translated by Rusçuklu
̧Sevki): 1889 – Mahmut Esat: 1889 – Mahmut Esat: 1889 – Ibrahim Lütfi: 1896 – Fahri Pasa: 1898 – Ali (Dr. Binba ̧sı): 1898 – Esat Feyzi: 1906 – Dr. Rifat: 1909 – M. Sadi: 1911 – Ebül Muhsin Kemal: 1912 – Mazhar Hüsnü: 1913 – Hüseyin Remzi: 1914 – Hüseyin Remzi: 1922 – Ali Kenan: 1923 – Harun Resit: ca. 1576 – Nurettin Ebul-Hasan Ali b. Muhammed el-Cezzar: 1726 – Recep el-Kostantini: Yasin El Omeri (d. 1811): Gokmenzade Haci Celebi: 1890 – Ahmet Tevfik Kocamaz: 1894 – Halil Edhem: Sebibzade Muhammed Emin (translated by Vamik Sukru in 1896): Ali Muzaffer Bey: 1897 – Abdullah Masher:
There are many books related to earthquakes (the causes of the
earthquake occurrence) in the Ottoman Empire. In these types of books, generally
classical Aristotelian views on earthquakes were debated. Regarding earthquakes
(in Arabic
In the last periods of the Ottoman Empire, there were some books about
earthquakes that were not associated with the madrasa scholars. These are
the following.
All these books were based on the translations of Western sources (Izgi, 1997).
Meteorological forecasting in Anatolian–Turkish folklore is represented by
the concept of
Meteorological topics are classified with subjects as vapour, fog, rain,
snow, hail, wind, lighting, rainbow, meteors, tides, etc. All of these are
known as
These types of books are below (Izgi, 1997).
Husamettin el-Tokadi (d. 1456): Muslihuddin Mustafa b. Yusuf (d. 1487–1488): Ubeys el Kocevi (died end of the century): Mirim Celebi (d. 1525): Deruni Ali Efendi (d. 1786):
There is one book related to the tides in the Ottoman Empire. Abdulkadir b.
Ahmet in his
Gautier determined all Anatolian shores, islands, capes, etc. in the Ottoman
Empire with excellent instruments (Gautier, 1820, 1822). Several topographic
maps were produced in the several parts of the Ottoman Empire by the Germans,
English, Russians and French. If we look at the geological works in the
Ottoman Empire, there are several foreign researchers who mapped the geologic
features. Austrian researchers of interest in the Balkan Peninsula include for example
Ami Boue, who investigated the Western Thrace and Eastern Thrace and other parts of the Balkan
Peninsula geologically. Ami Boue (1847–1881), an Austrian geologist, was born
in Hamburg and received an early education there and in Geneva and Paris. At the
Imperial Academy of Science in Vienna, he produced important papers on the
geology of the Balkan states (1859–1870) and also published some books such as
Geologically Istanbul and neighbouring areas were investigated by several authors such as Andrussov in 1900, Pyotr Alexandrovich Tchihatchev in 1844, E. D. Verneuil in 1836, Xavier Hommaire de Hell in 1848, Rudolf Hoernes in 1909, William John Hamilton in 1837, W. R. Swan in 1868 and Alfred Philippson in 1869 (Ketin, 1983). Pyotr Alexandrovich Tchihatchev
(1808–1890) was a Russian naturalist and geologist who was admitted into
Russian Academy of Sciences in 1876 as an honorary member. He authored
geographic and geologic descriptions of Altai, Xinjiang and Asia Minor
between 1853 and 1869. He has a comprehensive study of Asia Minor. He became
of attaché of the Russian embassy in Istanbul. He took advantage of this 2-year stay there to study Turkish. He undertook during 1847–1863 a series of
expeditions in Asia Minor. He performed extensive scientific research and
made collections during these expeditions. Xavier Hommaire de Hell (1812–1848)
was a French geographer and traveller who carried out research in Turkey,
southern Russia and Persia. Hommaire graduated as an engineer from the École des
Mines in Saint-Étienne in 1863. In October 1834 he went to Turkey. He
coordinated the construction of a suspension bridge in Constantinople and a
lighthouse on the Black Sea coast in 1843. He became a member of the Société
de Géographie and Société Géologique. Rudolf Hoernes (1850–1912) was a
Austrian geologist born in Vienna. He studied under Eduard Suess and became a
professor of geology in Graz. In 1893 he published a detailed textbook on
earthquake studies (
Asia Minor (Anatolia) was investigated by several researchers such as W. J. Hamilton, William Francis Ainsworth in 1842, Ch. Fellows in 1841, William Trowbridge Merrifield Forbes in 1911,
Charles Texier between 1839 and 1849, Hommaire de Hell between 1853 and 1860, Tchihatchev in 1867, A. Boue, Gejza von Bokowski in 1903, F. Schafner in 1907, Edmund Neuman in 1893, and Fritz Daniel French in 1916. William Francis Ainsworth (1807–1896) was an English surgeon,
traveller, geographer and geologist. In 1836 Ainsworth, after studying under
Sir Edward Sabine, was appointed surgeon and geologist to the expedition on the
Euphrates River under F. R. Chesey. He went to Mesopotamia through Asia
Minor in the passes of the Taurus Mountains. On his return from the Euphrates
expeditions, he published his observations. In 1842, he published an account
of the Mesopotamia expedition entitled
Eastern Anatolia was geologically investigated by Herman von Abich between 1878 and 1887; Felix Oswald in 1912; R. Reonardt in 1915; Franz Kossmat in 1910; S. Schafter in 1903; Hugo Grothe between 1906 and 1907; and A. Philippson in 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914 and 1915. Herman
von Abich (1806–1886) was a German mineralogist, geologist and explorer. In
1842, he was appointed professor of mineralogy at the University of Dorpat.
He undertook trips to Armenia and Caucasus countries between 1850 and
1880. In 1853 he became a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences,
and in 1858 he became a corresponding member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He visited
Tbilisi and examined the geology of the Caucasus. Felix Oswald (1866–1958) was
an English geologist and archeologist. He studied at the University of London. In
1898, he accompanied H. F. B. Lynch as a geologist on his journey through
Turkish Armenia. The result was his book
Hoca Ishak Efendi (1774–1835) was an Ottoman mathematician and engineer. He
was born Arta (now Greece) probably in 1774 to a Jewish family. His father
converted to Islam. After his father died, he went to Istanbul where he
studied mathematics and foreign languages (learning French, Latin, Greek and
Hebrew alongside Turkish, Arabic and Persian). As a part of Sultan Mehmet
II's attempts at modernization in 1816, Hoca was appointed to be an instructor of the
Imperial School of Engineering (Muhendishane-i Berri Humayun). His main work
After a volcanic eruption occurs, an earthquake grows out of volcanic eruptions. For example Lisbon (Portugal's capital) collapsed due to an earthquake. Another example is the Palermo earthquake that occurred due to volcanic lava in 1726, where many buildings collapsed. Finally earthquakes occur due to the volcanic eruptions in the earth's interior, where sulfur and combustible material pass out from the cracks.
There have been several meteorological measurements in several times and
places since 1838 (beginning of
These historical measurements and observations were investigated by Akyol (1940). Some results of this investigations are presented here. The oldest meteorological measurements was made in the Saint Benoit school between
1839 and 1847 in Istanbul. This first temperature measurements began in the Saint Benoit monastery in Galata (Istanbul) by the priest Dalmas (Dizer, 1993).
Also, there are meteorological measurements that were carried out by P. d. Tchicahatchef in 1847, 1848 and 1854 and by A. Viquesnel (1868).
Tchicahatchef's observations appeared in the second volume of his book on Asia Minor,
There are some meteorological observations by William Lare. He was
a mechanical engineer in British army, and after his sickness he stayed in
Istanbul. Then he worked in civil works in the Ottoman Empire. During the last years of his
life he continued as a safeguarder of the British cemetery. He was interested in
meteorology and made several measurements (Unver, 1973). Meteorological
observations were carried out in Thomson Farm in Erenköy (Istanbul) between
1875 and 1892, and these data were published by Retly in 1928 (Unver, 1973).
There were some temperature, pressure, and moisture and precipitation
measurements in Büyükdere (Istanbul), where a
meteorological station was established in a Russian summer house. These data were published in
Historical records show that Ottoman geography (especially the Anatolian Peninsula) has experienced many major earthquake shocks that have damaged and destroyed urban centres. For example, the Sea of Marmara earthquake on 10 September 1509 destroyed the city of Istanbul and was one of the largest earthquakes in the previous 5 centuries (Kepekci and Ozcep, 2011).
As Bein (2008) discussed in detail, related to the earthquakes Ottoman
intellectuals have some ideas, both theological–cosmological explanations and
naturalist theories. For example, Mustafa Ali (d. 1599) rejected the
Aristotelian theory and repeated the opinion that God caused earthquakes in
response to human sins (Bein, 2008). More significant was the highlighting
of God's control over natural phenomena and the direct link between human
behaviour and events in nature. For another example in the 17th century,
Solakzade Mehmed Celebi (d. 1657) described in a similar manner how an Ottoman
sultan told his viziers and military commanders that their sins had caused a
severe earthquake in Istanbul in 1509. The tremors and destruction were so
severe at the time that the appellation “little apocalypse” (
Main interest in earthquakes among the Ottomans began with the 1894 Istanbul earthquake, the greatest earthquake of 19th century in Ottoman geographies. The earthquake happened at noon on 10 July 1894. To minimize the earthquake panic in the people, Sultan Abdul Hamid II wanted Aristid Coumbary (director of the observatory) to prepare an earthquake report. Furthermore Dimitrios Eginithis (director of Athens's observatory and an expert in seismology) was invited by Sultan Abdul Hamid II to observe and prepare for the earthquake effects.
The Ottoman government assigned the steamship to Eghenitis to use for his studies. He, Coumbary, Emil Lacoin (deputy director of the observatory) and Vasif Bey (marine officer) began to study the earthquake effects in the field. Eghenitis prepared a report (in French) of this earthquake by using field observations and observations obtained by telegrams, etc. In the report there is also an isoseismal map of this earthquake based on these observations. This report was presented to the Ottoman government on 15 August 1894. In the isoseismal map there are five intensity zones (or contours). In the first zone there are the strongest damaged places from Çatalca to Adapazarı (and along Izmit Bay which includes Esenköy and Maltepe). An isoseismal map is in the form of an ellipse. The second zone includes Carli, Tekirdağ, Mudanya, Akhisar, Üsküdar, Ortaköy and Terkos, and in these sites some buildings (that were not well-constructed) were damaged. The third zone includes Bandırma and Karaköy (near Bilecik), and there is no damage but for the movement of some furniture and belongings. The fourth zone includes Ioannina, Bucharest, Crete, Greece and Konya, and there was no damage, but the earthquake was felt in these sites. The last zone is defined as an instrumental zone where this earthquake was recorded in Birmingham, Pavlovsk and Paris. This report is important for scientists as a main reference and source of this earthquake. Sultan Abdul Hamid appreciated the work of Eghenitis and gave him the “Order of Madjidie” (Fettahoglu, 2002).
As an example in the 17th century, there is an anecdote relating to the 1509
earthquake. The sultan gathered his viziers and commanders. He stated that
he told the viziers and military commanders of the Ottoman sultan how his
sins caused a violent earthquake in Istanbul in 1509. According to Solakzade
Mehmed Çelebi's The Sultan, Beyazıt II, gathered in the Edirne Palace and made the
following address to the viziers with anger: He said: “These earthquakes are divine, and these are the wrath of God, caused from
your cruelty and mischief to the oppressed people.” The earth, like the nervous and feverish patients, Suddenly secretly and long With a movement It struggled, broke, destroyed… Sadness …What does the world stand on? It is like a ship on the water. God sent a great angel that has infinite power. This angel took the world on her shoulders, stretched one hand to the east and the other to the west… God commands the rock to come under the angel's feet. God ordered Taurus to go under the rock. The bull carried the rock on its back and on its horns. However, a base on which the bull will also set its feet was needed. God created a very big whale (Hût) and was placed under the bull… In the folkloric belief, every hair of this ox is tied to a country, when a mosquito approaches its nose, an ox will shake, whichever hair moves, an earthquake happened in that area… …During the great earthquake, when I saw the disagreement of the people at that time, some of them said that the ground motion is caused by moving/awakening the hair of the ox, which is the loading of the ground, and in some others believing/saying that it is the movement (drive) of the fish under that ox, some others would have made it difficult and the surface of the whole place had to be moved if both the ox and the fish movement were like this. We said that it is crazy not to be from ox and fish in some places and not in some places, but Allah (God) knows the true information. There have been lands and mountains. Even mountains have been the poles (used as a beam) of the ground. Then Hak Taâlâ (God) tied the vein of all mountains to Kaf mountain, which surrounded the ground. He held a great angel responsible for the earthquake and gave the veins of the mountains to his hands. In this case, when Hak Taâlâ tried to deny and ban the people of a place from rebellion; that angel moves the vein of that place at the command of the God. O Dear, you know, the philosophers said: This is the reason why the earth is shaken, when the vapor formed in the earth is trapped there; turning to one side, it cools there and turns into water. If it is less, it mixes with the steam pieces. This is well waters. If it is too much, it does not fit into the earth, creating fine places of the earth's crust, it turns out, these are the boiling resources. …So, an earthquake occurs when the material that is capable of
igniting/firing, which is settled in the ground from the changes of the
ground, actually goes out of the ground with the tendency of the steam
coming out of the ground to rise up.
Karl Terzaghi (1883–1963) studied mechanical engineering and received a PhD at the Technical University of Graz. In 1916 Terzaghi was requested by the
Austrian Department of Foreign Affairs to accept a teaching position at the
Imperial School of Engineers (now Istanbul Technical University). He
accepted this position. After his arrival In Istanbul he learned that the
request has been made by the suggestion of Prof. Philipp Forchheimer, an eminent
Austrian hydraulic engineer who was at that time engaged in an organization
of engineering education in the Ottoman Empire (Casagrande, 1960). When World
War I was ended, he took a post (1918–1925) with Robert College, an
American school in Istanbul (now Boğaziçi University). In 1925 he went to the US
as a member of faculty at MIT and then Harvard University. He is accepted
as the founder of soil mechanics. During the Ottoman period, he was engaged in the study of physical
properties of soils. Since 1916 Terzaghi, on the one hand, gave the lectures
on “Foundation, Construction, Road and Railway Construction” and, on the
other hand, he performed some scientific experiments related to soil mechanics
at the Imperial School of Engineering in Istanbul (Ozudogru, 2010). He published an important paper in
Karl Terzaghi's paper in the
Karl Terzaghi sent two letters to Prof. Hamdi Peynircioglu (a prominent
geotechnical engineer in Turkey) in 1946 and 1950. In his first letter dated 25 April 1946, he sent a photo (that was taken in the Department of Civil
Engineering at Robert College) relating to laboratory testing. He says
(Bahadir, 1998): This photo shows the instrument that I use it to test earth pressure. Instrument consists of empty cigar boxes, simple extensometer (that I borrowed from Physics Department) and kitchen balance (that I gave back to kitchen balance after testing). Our test results were published in “Engineering Records” Journal in 1922. But I paid attention to quality of instrument that I used. After 12 years I repeated these tests by special instruments (its price is 60000 dolars) during the construction project that designed in a dam, in Connecticut River, New Hampshire. Results are in agreement with previous tests that I carried out with cigar boxes. This situation should be encouraged some people who carried out the simple instruments. Soon after his arrival in Istanbul he built his first earth pressure
apparatus. Some of measuring devices he borrowed from the Department of
Physics and others from the University kitchens. During this period, he
began to lay out a broad program for a systematic investigation of physical
properties of cohesive soils… …In order to perform his experiments on clay he needed an
assortment of soils of this category. Hogly plastic clays could be found
only close to the coast of the Black Sea which was separated from suburbs of
Istanbul by a broad belt of forest. During the following years all his
experiments on clays were performed of these samples. In his book
“Erdbaumechanik” they are referred to as clays II and IV. I consider Istanbul as an always birthplace of my contributions in soil
mechanics.
Oceanographic studies in the Ottoman Empire were started by Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli in the Bosporus (Istanbul) in 1681. He was born in Bologna and supplemented his reading by studying mathematics, anatomy and natural history. After a course of scientific studies in his native city, he voyaged throughout Asia Minor collecting data on the Ottoman Empire's military organization, as well as on its natural history. The first Turkish oceanographer was Ahmet Rasim, who carried out an expedition in the Bosporus and the Marmara Sea between 1894 and 1896.
In 1858 French government established a meteorological network that
transferred their data by telegram. Same system was founded in the UK in 1860.
After the testing period, the first French national meteorological network
began to work in 1863 (Dizer, 1993). Fettahoglu (2002) investigated in
detail the historical development of Rasathane-i Amire in the Ottoman Empire. The
following information was taken in her study. In 1863 the Ottoman government
wanted newspapers to publish weather reports. Daily newspapers published the weather reports after this circular every day. These is evidence of meteorological issues in the country's agenda before the
observatory's founding. A proposal for the founding of an observatory was made
by Aristid Coumbary (Kumbari Efendi) in a report titled
Finally, in 1868 an observatory for meteorological purposes was established in Istanbul named Rasathane-i Amire (Imperial Meteorological Observatory) by the same data transfer method of telegram (Fig. 2). With the recommendation of Urbain Le Verrier, director of the Paris Observatory (Fettahoglu, 2002), Coumbary Efendi (Aristid Coumbary) was appointed the first director of the observatory. Aristid Coumbary (see Fig. 3), a man of Greek origin born in Istanbul in 1827 or 1828, was son of Yanker Kiryako. He received the first education in a Greek school in Istanbul, and then he continued his education at the University of Athens, and lastly, he completed a diploma at the School of Mathematical Sciences in Paris. He spoke Turkish, Greece, French and Italian (Fettahoglu, 2002). The observatory is located in the Pera region of Istanbul. This location also has the central station, and there are many stations that collaborated with the central station such as Savlina, Constanța, Varna, Burgas, Trabzon, Rhodes, Çanakkale, Kavala, Thessaloniki, Manaster, Jalona, Elbasan, Durrës and Beirut. Later some stations were added to these stations such as Izmir, Diyarbakır and Baghdad (Dizer, 1993). But the first meteorological observations in this observatory are not reliable and were published in their own publications and in European meteorological journals. The most important activity of the observatory is a representation of the Ottoman government at the Vienna International Meteorological Congress in 1873. This congress was on 1–6 July 1873, and there were many contributions not only from Europe but also from the United States, China and Japan (Fettahoglu, 2002). Coumbary Efendi attended to the meteorological congress. He – with delegates of other countries – discussed the physical and instrumental conditions of this observatory at this congress. Through this observatory the Ottoman Empire took part in the International Meteorological Congress in Vienna with an emerging worldwide meteorological network (Benois, 2009). After the congress, Coumbary prepared a report to the Ottoman government related to the congress (Fettahoglu, 2002). In 1887 (24 September) the Ottoman government was invited to the meteorological congress, but due to the financial restrictions it was not able to attend this congress. At the end of this congress, one copy of the final report was sent to the Ottoman government (Fettahoglu, 2002).
Emblem of the Rasathane-i Amire (Imperial Meteorological Observatory).
There were approximately 10 meteorological stations affiliated with this observatory which reported their daily observations via cable to the Observatory. The central office in Istanbul sent these observations, via cable, to international observatories (in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, St. Petersburg and Hamburg) and received their reports by the same way (Topdemir, 2007; Dizer, 1993). In 1876 the observatory shared it weather information with the British navy.
Aristid Coumbary.
There are some papers related to the first observatory studies in French
meteorological journals such as Asian and European Turkey are located in the pathway of storms that we are
interested in observations that are most valuable. These observations, dark
points with highlights, and data will be connected by Russia and India.
Results of meteorologic observations were published with the title
In 1888 with efforts of observatory staff, Rasathane-i Amire had the
following instruments (Fettahoglu, 2002):
Fortin barometer (big) Fortin barometer (small) hypso-barometer with recorder Richard barometer with recorder Robinson Mulin (river measurement) pluviometer Walferdin thermometer (big) Rutherford thermometer (small) Ogust hygrometer Richard hygrometer various thermometers.
These instruments were bought from the Baudin factory in Paris, France. The
instruments in the Rasathane-i Amire are shown in Fig. 4.
Monthly and annual temperature values between 1868 and 1887 (Fettahoglu, 2002).
The instruments in the Rasathane-i Amire.
Between 1868 and 1922 there are three publications of the observatory related
to the meteorology. The first is
A third publication is named
Figure 5 shows storm movement in 1865 in Europe. Figure 6 shows a meteorological report (dated 13 April 1893) sent to Yıldız Palace (a residence of the sultan and his court in the late 19th century).
Storm movement in 1865 in Europe.
A meteorological report (dated 13 April 1893) sent to Yıldız Palace (a residence of the sultan and his court in the late 19th century).
The observatory has an international relationship with many European observatories (mainly the Paris Observatory, Rome Observatory, Vienna Observatory, then Berlin Observatory, Pulkovo Observatory and other observatories in countries such as Italy and Norway). This observatory is important for European scientists as well as the Ottoman government. For example director of Paris Observatory Verrier sent to letters to Coumbary on 5 and 26 May 1869 (Fettahoglu, 2002). In his letters he wrote that the storms on the American shores could be observed in Eastern Europe and that the observatory in Istanbul could meteorologically help in the monitoring of this type of storm. Furthermore Verrier wants from Coumbary the obtained knowledge about weather conditions of the Ottoman geography for a weather atlas (1868). After the following months, Verrier sent a letter of thanks to Coumbary, and he said that science can only develop with international cooperation. This letter was published in a daily newspaper of time.
By the establishment of the observatory in 1868, although there is no
seismological research, there was an effort to register the earthquakes that
happened and were felt in Ottoman geographies. In this context since 1874 some
earthquakes were informed by the observatory according to the newspaper
records of date (for examples see Table 2). Furthermore there is some
information related to the earthquakes in bulletins of the observatory, such
as
Some earthquake information (between 1870 and 1895) to be sent to the Rasathane-i Amire (Fettahoglu, 2002).
The 1894 earthquake had not only a great impact on the people, but also it also became understood that there is no official institution related to earthquakes in the Ottoman Empire. Government-obtained information about possible or future earthquakes was needed to take preventive measures. For this reason some information about buying seismograms was obtained. Regarding buying and then operating seismograms, the government sent written notices to some European embassies of the Ottoman Empire (in London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna). In the replying notices from the embassies, there are several proposals for buying seismograms (see Fig. 7). Then an agreement was accepted that the best seismographs were produced in Italy.
Seismograph proposals for the Ottoman Empire.
In Rome, the director of the Collegia Romana observatory, Tacchini, said that this type of seismograph could be produced by itself. Another proposal was taken by J. Ewing. He also sent a user manual (dated 1899) of seismographs that were produced by the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company. The Ottoman government decided to buy the Palmieri seismographs that were developed by an Italian group of Bertelli, Galile Gecci, De Rossi and Giovanni Agamennone. After buying the seismograph, the second problem was the person that operated this instrument. Tacchini's proposal for expert personnel was Giovanni Agamennone, director of the Geodynamic Division of the observatory in Italy.
Giovanni Agamennone was invited by the Ottoman government to Istanbul to establish the Earthquake Department of the observatory and teach about earthquakes and how to use the seismograph. He had a degree in physics from the University of Rome in 1884. Afterwards he worked as an assistant of geodynamics at the Observatory of Ischia and then the Central Office of Meteorology and Geophysics in 1895. Agamennone registered all earthquakes that happened in Ottoman geographies. For this aim, he sent an official notice to all centres of the post office and telegram and railway companies stating that he wants them to inform him about earthquake knowledge in their regions. After the 7 months of construction of the Earthquake Department building, the instruments were moved to this building with Salih Zeki Bey's (director of the observatory at this time) efforts, the Earthquake Department was officially founded in the observatory (Rasathane-i Amire). From 1870 to 1903 earthquake observations were sent to the observatory via post and telegram offices of the government after a government notice. After the founding of the Earthquake Department, these activities became more efficient than in the previous periods. This earthquake information focused on the Aegean Region and Balkan Peninsula. Furthermore there is some earthquake information in regions such as the Eastern Anatolia Region, Black Sea Region, Central Anatolia Region, Mediterranean, Middle East and Marmara Region on the telegrams. Seismographs that were installed in Maçka (Istanbul) recorded some minor earthquakes in Istanbul and the adjoining area. For example, an earthquake (that occurred in Bursa on 26 October 1896) was recorded by these seismographs, and the public was informed via newspapers. In August 1896, Agamennone as a head of the Earthquake Department published a treatise related to the earthquakes that occurred in the Ottoman Empire and its vicinities. This study is a statistical study of earthquakes that happened in Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Austria-Hungary, Egypt, Iran and the Caucasus. Furthermore, an earthquake list table was published by the department. Agamennone left the observatory due to economic reasons, and then Salih Zeki was selected to be responsible for the Earthquake Department. Within this period, two important earthquakes happened in Balıkesir (29 January 1898) and in Aydın (1899). To investigate these earthquakes, the observatory administration wanted the fund from the government for field studies (Gunergun, 2005). But the fund did not provide for the first earthquake. For the second earthquake (Aydın) the fund was supplied from the government, and the earthquake group (Salih Zeki and Said Bey) went to Aydın to research the earthquake. But the results of this study are unknown. This research is the only original research attempt of the Earthquake Department. During these years, Agamennone published many papers in Italian and French in scientific journals from 1896 to 1899 (Ozcep and Ozcep, 2014).
Related to the establishment of the Earthquake Department, Charles Davison
(prominent seismologist in this era) published a paper in …with the foundation of a seismological observatory, Dr. Agamennone has also undertaken the organisation of earthquake studies throughout the Ottoman Empire, and he is anxious to extend this very important branch of his work so as to include the entire district within and bordering the eastern end of the Mediterranean.
Charles Davison's paper in
During the World War I, the Ottoman Empire with its allied German government
founded a meteorological organization called “Kuvva-I Havaiye Mufettisligi
Rasat-I Havaiye Mudurlugu” in Kuruçeşme (Istanbul) on August 1915. Prof. Weikman was charged with this mission (Atabay and Aytac, 2002). Ludwif Weikman (1882–1961) was a German geophysicist, meteorologist and university
lecturer. He studied physics and astronomy at the Ludwig Maximilian
University of Munich. In October 1915, as German Military Meteorology
Service Head, he travelled to Istanbul. He was head of the Turkish Meteorology
Service from 1915 to 1918. The gained scientific experience and data there
helped him write a habilitation thesis (
Innovation efforts have been made in many areas during the
The physical earth and related areas in the Ottoman Empire as a scientific
and educational curiosity can be seen in the 18th century with the
opening of military schools in the Western style. Geography and related
subjects were used especially in the field of cartography in the
Naval Academy and Military Academy (Mühendishane-i Bahri Hümayun and
Mühendishane-i Berri Hümayun) (Akyol, 1943). Developments in
geography, which started in the military field, were also seen in civilian
services after
As Kucuk (2020) points out, science in Istanbul during this period is called practical naturalism. It is seen that many earth science books published
in the Ottoman Empire are titled
Also, as another factor, the Ottoman intellectuals, along with
The new developments in the industrial field, which started in the UK at the end of the 18th century, enabled the need and use of minerals. The most important factor for this is steam machines. The main energy source for steam machines was coal. For this reason, the spread of shipping and railways greatly developed and expanded mining. An important development at the beginning of the 19th century was geological mapping. It brought great economic benefits. The mineral types in the underground layers were determined and started to be used according to needs. There is an interesting relationship between pure science and economic and social needs. For example, an oil field was discovered in the 1920s by geophysical research. Later, more investments were made in geophysical research, and later more oil deposits were discovered. More oil led to more geophysical research. It was discovered that there is a feedback relationship between pure science and economics.
There are also international activities by foreign researchers to geologize
in Ottoman geographies. These activities may be grouped into three
categories:
individual-curiosity-based – independent – activities (many of
them from naive scientists) activities arising from relations between the
Ottoman government and other states (such as Austrian military meteorology and French observatories in France and other counties) activities related to a colonial or commercial desire to exploit natural resources (for example, French and Italian companies in the Zonguldak coal basin).
Data used in this paper are listed in the references cited throughout.
The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
This article is part of the special issue “History of geophysical institutes and observatories”. It is not associated with a conference.
This study was carried out in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University when the author was a visiting scholar, in the years of 2018 and 2019. I would like to thank Naomi Oreskes who was my academic sponsor.
The study was supported by the research unit of İstanbul University (project no. FUA-2016-20557) and a TÜBITAK (The Scientific and Technical Council of Turkey) grant (2017).
This paper was edited by Kristian Schlegel and reviewed by Okan Tezel and two anonymous referees.