View source for Science and technology in the Ottoman Empire

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During its 600-year existence, the [[Ottoman Empire]] made significant advances in science and technology, in a wide range of fields including [[mathematics]], [[astronomy]] and [[medicine]].

The [[Islamic Golden Age]] was traditionally believed to have ended in the thirteenth century,<ref>Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samonis (2006). "Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today", ''[[Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology|The FASEB Journal]]'' '''20''': 1581–1586</ref> but has been extended to the fifteenth<ref name=Saliba-1994>[[George Saliba]] (1994), ''A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam'', pp. 245, 250, 256–257, [[New York University Press]], {{ISBN|0814780237}}</ref> and sixteenth<ref name=Hassan-Decline>[[Ahmad Y Hassan]], [http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%208.htm Factors Behind the Decline of Islamic Science After the Sixteenth Century]</ref> centuries by some, who have included continuing scientific activity in the Ottoman Empire in the west and in [[History of Iran|Persia]] and [[Mughal Empire|Mughal India]] in the east.

==Education==<!-- This section is linked from [[Ottoman Empire]] -->

[[File:Beyazıt_State_Library_(14667026514).jpg|thumb|left|Beyazıt State Library was founded in 1884.]]
[[File:Beyazıt_State_Library_(14482650560).jpg|150px|thumb|left|Beyazıt State Library was founded in 1884.]]
[[File:Beyazit1900.jpg|thumb|150px|left|[[Istanbul University]] is the oldest university in Turkey]]

===Advancement of madrasah===
{{Further|Madrasah}}

The [[madrasah]] education institution, which first originated during the [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuk]] period, reached its highest point during the Ottoman reign.<ref name = "Ottoman">İnalcık, Halil. 1973. "Learning, the Medrese, and the Ulema." In ''The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300–1600''. New York: Praeger, pp. 165–178.</ref>

=== Education of Ottoman Women in Medicine ===
[[Harem]]s were places within a Sultan's palace where his wives, daughters, and female slaves were expected to stay. However, accounts of teaching young girls and boys here have been recorded. Most education of women in the Ottoman Empire was focused on teaching the women to be good house wives and social etiquette.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gelişli|first=Yucel|date=2004|title=Education of women from the Ottoman Empire to modern Turkey|journal=SEER: Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe|volume=7|issue=4|pages=121–135|issn=1435-2869|jstor=43293079}}</ref> Although the formal education of women was not popular, female physicians and surgeons were still accounted for. Female physicians were given an informal education instead of a formal one.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hekint.org/2017/01/30/muslim-women-healers-of-the-medieval-and-early-modern-ottoman-empire/|title=Muslim women healers of the medieval and early modern Ottoman Empire – Hektoen International|website=hekint.org|access-date=22 November 2019}}</ref> However, the first properly trained female Turkish physician was [[Safiye Ali]]. Ali studied medicine in Germany and opened her own practice in [[Istanbul]] in 1922, 1 year before the [[Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire|fall of the Ottoman Empire]].

===Technical education===
[[Istanbul Technical University]] has a history that began in 1773. It was founded by Sultan [[Mustafa III]] as the Imperial Naval Engineers' School (original name: Mühendishane-i Bahr-i Humayun), and it was originally dedicated to the training of ship builders and cartographers. In 1795 the scope of the school was broadened to train technical military staff to modernize the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] army to match the European standards. In 1845 the engineering department of the school was further developed with the addition of a program devoted to the training of architects. The scope and name of the school were extended and changed again in 1883 and in 1909 the school became a public engineering school which was aimed at training civil [[engineers]] who could create new infrastructure to develop the empire.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.itu.edu.tr/en/about-itu/general/history|title=ITU – History|website=www.itu.edu.tr|publisher=Istanbul Technical University|access-date=22 November 2016}}</ref>

==Astronomy==

[[File:Taqi al din.jpg|175px|thumb|Work in the observatorium of [[Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf|Taqi al-Din]].]]
[[File:Sextant TakiyüddinRasid TopkapiPalaceMuseum.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Ottoman observatory [[astronomer]]s and [[astrology|astrologers]] headed by the ''[[müneccimbaşı]]'' (chief astrologer) using the [[sextant]].]]

Astronomy was a very important discipline in the Ottoman Empire.

[[Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf|Taqi al-Din]] later built the [[Constantinople Observatory of Taqi ad-Din]] in 1577, where he carried out astronomical observations until 1580. He produced a [[Zij]] (named ''Unbored Pearl'') and [[astronomical catalog]]ues that were more accurate than those of his contemporaries, [[Tycho Brahe]] and [[Nicolaus Copernicus]]. Taqi al-Din was also the first astronomer to employ a [[Decimal separator|decimal point]] notation in his [[observation]]s rather than the [[sexagesimal]] fractions used by his contemporaries and predecessors. He also made use of [[Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī]]'s method of "three points observation". In ''The Nabk Tree'', Taqi al-Din described the three points as "two of them being in opposition in the [[ecliptic]] and the third in any desired place." He used this method to calculate the [[Orbital eccentricity|eccentricity]] of the Sun's orbit and the annual motion of the [[apogee]], and so did Copernicus before him, and Tycho Brahe shortly afterwards. He also invented a variety of other astronomical instruments, including accurate mechanical [[astronomical clock]]s from 1556 to 1580. Due to his observational clock and other more accurate instruments Taqi al-Din's values were more accurate.<ref name="Tekeli">Sevim Tekeli, "Taqi al-Din", in Helaine Selin (1997), ''Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures'', [[Kluwer Academic Publishers]], {{ISBN|0792340663}}.</ref>

After the destruction of the Constantinople observatory of Taqi al-Din in 1580, astronomical activity stagnated in the Ottoman Empire, until the introduction of [[Copernican heliocentrism]] in 1660, when the Ottoman scholar Ibrahim Efendi al-Zigetvari Tezkireci translated Noël Duret's French astronomical work (written in 1637) into Arabic.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zaken|first=Avner Ben|year=2004|title=The heavens of the sky and the heavens of the heart: the Ottoman cultural context for the introduction of post-Copernican astronomy|journal=The British Journal for the History of Science|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|volume=37|pages=1–28|doi=10.1017/S0007087403005302|s2cid=171015647}}</ref>

== Geography ==
[[Image:piri reis harita.jpg|thumb|The [[Piri Reis map]].]]

Ottoman admiral [[Piri Reis]] ({{langx|tr|Pîrî [[Reis (military rank)|Reis]]}} or ''[[Hacı]] Ahmet Muhittin Pîrî [[Bey]]'') was a [[Navigation|navigator]], [[Geography in medieval Islam|geographer]] and [[Cartography|cartographer]] active in the early 1500s. He is known today for his maps and charts collected in his ''[[Kitab-ı Bahriye]]'' (''Book of Navigation''), and for the [[Piri Reis map]], one of the oldest maps of America still in existence.

His book contains detailed information on navigation, as well as accurate charts (for their time) describing the important [[port]]s and cities of the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. His world map, drawn in 1513, is the oldest known Turkish atlas showing the [[New World]]. The map was rediscovered by German theologian [[Gustav Adolf Deissmann]] in 1929 in the course of work cataloging items held by the [[Topkapı Palace]] library.<ref>A. Gerber, ''Deissmann the Philologist'', Berlin, 2010, 198–201.</ref>

== Medicine ==
[[File:Haydarpasa_campus_general.jpg|thumb|left|400px|Haydarpaşa campus of Marmara University, originally the [[Imperial College of Medicine]] (Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şahane), [[Istanbul]].]]

Medicine in the Ottoman Empire was practiced in nearly all places of society as physicians treated patients in homes, markets, and hospitals. Treatment at these different locations were generally the same, but different modalities of treatment existed throughout the Ottoman Empire. Different methodologies included humoral principles, curative medicine, preventative medicine, and prophetic medicine.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Mossensohn |first=Miri |title=Ottoman medicine: healing and medical institutions, 1500–1700 |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4384-2529-0 |location=Albany, NY |pages=187 |author-link=Miri Shefer-Mossensohn}}</ref> Ottoman hospitals also adopted the concept of integralism in which a holistic approach to treatment was used. Considerations of this approach included quality of life and care and treatment of both physical and mental health. The integralistic approach shaped the structure of the Ottoman hospital as each sector and group of workers was dedicated to treating a different aspect of the patient's well-being.<ref name=":0" /> All shared the general consensus of treating patients with kindness and gentility, but physicians treated the physical body, and musicians used music therapy to treat the mind. Music was regarded as a powerful healing tune and that different sounds had the ability to create different mental states of health.<ref name="Erdal 2013 3">{{Cite journal|last1=Erdal|first1=Gülşen|last2=Erbaş|first2=Đlknur|date=2013|title=Darüşşifas Where Music Threapy Was Practiced During Anatolian Seljuks and Ottomans|journal=Journal of History Culture and Art Research|publisher=Karabuk University|volume=2|page=3|doi=10.7596/taksad.v2i1.99 |jstor=|doi-access=free}}</ref>

One of the original building blocks of early Ottoman medicine was [[Humorism|humoralism]], and the concept of illness to be a result of disequilibrium among the four humors of the body. The four physiological humors each related to one of the four elements: blood and air, phlegm and water, black bile and earth, yellow bile and fire.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Turgut|first1=Mehmet|title=Medicine in the Ottoman Empire|date=2008|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures|pages=1–11|editor-last=Selin|editor-first=Helaine|publisher=Springer Netherlands|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_9955-1|isbn=978-94-007-3934-5|last2=Akçiçek|first2=İbrahim Eren|last3=Turgut|first3=Ahmet Tuncay|last4=Yazıcı|first4=Yüksel Aydın|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Medicinal treatments in early Ottoman medicine often include the use of foods and beverages. Coffee, taken both medicinally and recreationally, was used to treat stomach problems and indigestion by working as a laxative.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|title=Ottoman medicine: healing and medical institutions, 1500–1700|last=Mossensohn|first=Miri|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4384-2529-0|location=Albany, NY|page=187}}</ref> The stimulant properties of coffee eventually gained recognition and coffee was used to curb fatigue and exhaustion.<ref name=":02" /> The use of coffee in medicinal senses was done more in practice by civilians than hospital professionals.

Hospitals and related health-care institutions were referred to as a variety of names: ''dârüşşifâ'', ''dârüssıhhâ'', ''şifâhâne'', ''bîmaristân'', ''bîmarhâne'', and ''timarhâne''.<ref name=":03"/> Hospitals were ''vakif'' institutions, dedicated to charity and offering care to people of all social classes.<ref name="Erdal 2013 3"/> The aesthetic aspects of the hospitals, including gardens and architecture, were said to be "healing by design".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ottoman medicine: healing and medical institutions, 1500–1700|last=Mossensohn|first=Miri|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4384-2529-0|location=Albany, NY|pages=187}}</ref> The hospitals also included [[Turkish bath|hammams]], or bathhouses, to treat the patients' humors.<ref name=":05"/>

The first Ottoman hospital established was the Faith Complex ''dârüşşifâ'' in 1470; it closed in 1824.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book|title=History of the Ottoman state, society & civilisation|last=İhsanoğlu|first=Ekmeleddin|publisher=IRCICA|year=2002|location=Istanbul|pages=400}}</ref> Unique features of the hospital were the separation of patients by sex and the use of music to treat the mentally ill. The Bâyezîd ''Dârüşşifâ'' was founded in 1488 and is most recognized for its unique architecture that served as an influence in the architecture of later European hospitals.<ref name=":03" /> The hospital built by Ayşe Hafsa Sulta in 1522 is recognized as one of the most esteemed hospitals of the Ottoman Empire.<ref name=":03" /> The hospital devoted a separate wing for the mentally ill, until later limiting all treatment to only the mentally ill. The ''bîmârîstân'''s ''[[Madrasa|medrese]]'' provided medical students with combined theoretical and clinical coursework through hospital internships.<ref name=":05"/>

Notable Ottoman medical literature includes the work of the Jewish doctor Mûsâ b. Hamun who wrote one of the first literature primarily about dentistry.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|title=History of the Ottoman state, society & civilisation|last=İhsanoğlu|first=Ekmeleddin|publisher=IRCICA|year=2002|location=Istanbul|pages=400–506}}</ref> Hamun also wrote ''Risâle fî Tabâyi’l-Edviye ve İsti’mâlihâ'', which used a combination of Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, and European works to transfer European knowledge of medicine to the Ottoman realm.<ref name=":12"/> The writer Ibn Cânî, after noticing the prevalence of tobacco use in Turkey, translated Spanish and Arabic works discussing the use of tobacco leaf in medical treatment.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kermelİ|first=Evgenia|date=2014|title=The Tobacco Controversy in Early Modern Ottoman Christian and Muslim Discourse|journal=Hacettepe University Journal of Turkish Studies|volume=11|pages=21|via=Google Scholar}}</ref> The physician Ömer b. Sinan el-İznikî’s works follow the theme of the Chemical Medicine movement and in his two books, ''Kitâb-I Künûz-I Hayâti’l-İnsân'' and ''Kanûn-I Etibbâ-yi Feylosofân'', enclosing directions for the production of medicines.<ref name=":12"/> One of the key contributors to Ottoman medical education was Şânizâde Mehmed Atâullah Efendi, whose ''Hamse-I Şânizâde'' presented modern European anatomy to Ottoman medicine.<ref name=":12"/> In 1873, Cemaleddin Efendi and a group of students from the Imperial Medical School put out the ''Lügat-I Tıbbiye'', the first modern medical dictionary written in Turkish. [[Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu]] was the author of the ''Cerrahiyyetu'l-Haniyye'' (''Imperial Surgery''), the first illustrated surgical atlas, and the ''Mücerrebname'' (''On Attemption''). The ''Cerrahiyyetu'l-Haniyye'' (''Imperial Surgery'') was the first surgical atlas and the last major [[Medicine in medieval Islam|medical encyclopedia from the Islamic world]]. Though his work was largely based on [[Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi]]'s ''[[Al-Tasrif]]'', Sabuncuoğlu introduced many innovations of his own. Female surgeons were also illustrated for the first time in the ''Cerrahiyyetu'l-Haniyye''.<ref>G. Bademci (2006), "First illustrations of female Neurosurgeons in the fifteenth century by Serefeddin Sabuncuoglu", ''Neurocirugía'' '''17''': 162–165</ref>

The first modern medical school of the Ottoman Empire was the Naval Medical School, or ''Tersâne Tıbbiyesi'', established in January 1806.<ref name=":05">{{Citation|last1=Turgut|first1=Mehmet|title=Hospitals and Medical Schools in the Ottoman Empire|date=2014|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures|pages=1–11|editor-last=Selin|editor-first=Helaine|publisher=Springer Netherlands|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_9955-2|isbn=978-94-007-3934-5|last2=Akçiçek|first2=İbrahim Eren|last3=Turgut|first3=Ahmet Tuncay|last4=Yazıcı|first4=Yüksel Aydın}}</ref> The education of the school was largely European-based, using texts in Italian or French and medical journals published in Europe. Behçet Efendi founded the [[Imperial School of Medicine (Ottoman Empire)|Imperial Medical School]], ''Tıbhâne-I Âmire'', of Istanbul in 1827 which was based on the following structural guidelines: the acceptance only of Muslim students, and the teachings would be almost entirely in French.<ref name=":12"/> In 1839, after [[Tanzimat]] reforms, the school was opened to non-Muslim individuals as well.<ref name=":12"/> After this point, non-Muslim students became the majority of graduating class and were better able to adapt and take advantage of the European-based education as many of them already spoke French and were placed into the higher ranking class in the school. The Civilian Medical School (''Mekteb-I Tıbbiye-I Mülkiye'') was founded in 1866 to raise the number of Muslim doctors.<ref name=":05" /> The school’s teachings were done in Turkish and focused on training students to become civilian physicians rather than military physicians.<ref name=":12"/>

Ottoman medicine in the mid-nineteenth century developed institutions for preventative medicine and public health.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ottoman medicine: healing and medical institutions, 1500–1700|last=Mossensohn|first=Miri|publisher=SUNY Press|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4384-2529-0|location=Albany, NY|pages=87–189}}</ref> A quarantine office and quarantine council, the ''Meclis-I Tahaffuz-I Ulâ'' were established.<ref name=":07">{{Citation|last=Bulmuş |first=Bįrsen |date=2012|pages=97–129|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-4659-3|jstor=10.3366/j.ctt3fgqx4.9|chapter=Hamdan Bin El-Merhum Osman and the Ottoman Quarantine Reform|title=Plague, Quarantines and Geopolitics in the Ottoman Empire}}</ref> The council eventually became an international organization with participation from European countries, the United States, Iran, and Russia.<ref name=":07" /> The Quarantine Administration, founded in 1838, established permanent anti-plague quarantines, based on the western Mediterranean quarantine model, throughout the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="Hamed-Troyansky">{{Cite journal|last=Hamed-Troyansky|first=Vladimir|date=2021|title=Ottoman and Egyptian Quarantines and European Debates on Plague in the 1830s–1840s|journal=Past and Present|issue=253|pages=235–270|doi=10.1093/pastj/gtaa017}}</ref>

The Ottoman Empire was also home to many institutions organized for the purpose of inoculation vaccination research and investigations. In Istanbul, the İstanbul Rabies and Bacteriological Laboratory was founded in 1877 for research in microbiology and the testing of rabies inoculation.<ref name=":12"/> The Smallpox Vaccination Laboratory and the Imperial Vaccination Center were also created in the late nineteenth century.<ref name=":12" />

The first Ottoman hospital, [[Dar al-Shifa]] (literally "house of health"), was built in the Ottoman’s capital city of [[Bursa]] in 1399.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Muslim Contributions to Sciences|last=Virk|first=Zakaria|publisher=Safir Rammah|year=2017|location=US|pages=101–102}}</ref> This hospital and the ones built after were structured similarly to the ones of the [[Seljuk Empire]], where "even wounded crusaders preferred Muslim doctors as they were very knowledgeable."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bayam|first1=Levent|last2=Stogiannos|first2=Vasileios|last3=Khawaja|first3=Sajid|last4=Smith|first4=Robert|last5=Drampalos|first5=Efstathios|date=2019|title=Evolution of the Infirmary during the Medieval; Social, Economic and Religious Status|url=https://www.journalagent.com/z4/download_fulltext.asp?pdir=ejm&plng=eng&un=EJM-95967|journal=Eastern Journal of Medicine|volume=24|issue=2|pages=252–256|doi=10.5505/ejm.2019.95967|issn=1301-0883|doi-access=free}}</ref> However, in Ottoman hospitals, mentally ill patients were treated with [[music therapy]] in separated buildings that were still part of the hospital complex. Different mental illnesses were treated with different modes of music therapy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://muslimheritage.com/ottoman-music-therapy/|title=Ottoman Music Therapy « Muslim Heritage|date=11 March 2009|access-date=22 November 2019}}</ref> Ottoman Empire hospitals were primarily established and used for treating the sick then developed into centers for medical science teaching as well.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tekįn |first=Bekir Hüseyin|date=31 May 2018|title=İstanbul'daki Mimar Sinan Eseri Yeniden İşlevlendirilmiş Medreselerin Yeni İşlev Gereği Değişen Mimari Özellikleri|journal=El-Cezeri Fen ve Mühendislik Dergisi|volume=5|issue=2|pages=331–345|doi=10.31202/ecjse.378253|issn=2148-3736|doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Physics ==
In 1574, [[Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf|Taqi al-Din]] (1526–1585) wrote the last major [[Physics in medieval Islam|Arabic work on optics]], entitled ''Kitab Nūr hadaqat al-ibsār wa-nūr haqīqat al-anzār'' (''Book of the Light of the Pupil of Vision and the Light of the Truth of the Sights''), which contains [[experiment]]al investigations in three volumes on [[Visual perception|vision]], the [[light]]'s [[Reflection (physics)|reflection]], and the light's [[refraction]].  The book deals with the structure of light, its [[diffusion]] and global refraction, and the relation between light and [[colour]]. In the first volume, he discusses "the nature of light, the source of light, the nature of the propagation of light, the formation of sight, and the effect of light on the eye and sight". In the second volume, he provides "experimental proof of the [[specular reflection]] of accidental as well as essential light, a complete formulation of the laws of reflection, and a description of the construction and use of a copper instrument for measuring reflections from [[Plane mirror|plane]], [[Curved mirror|spherical, cylindrical]], and conical [[mirror]]s, whether convex or concave." The third volume "analyses the important question of the variations light undergoes while traveling in [[Transmission medium|mediums]] having different [[Density|densities]], i.e. the nature of refracted light, the formation of refraction, the nature of images formed by refracted light."

==Mechanical technology==
In 1559, Taqi al-Din invented a [[Six cylinder engine|six-cylinder]] 'Monoblock' [[pump]]. It was a [[hydropower]]ed [[water]]-raising [[machine]] incorporating [[valve]]s, [[suction]] and delivery pipes, [[piston]] rods with lead weights, [[Trip hammer|trip]] [[lever]]s with [[Pin (device)|pin]] [[joint]]s, and [[Cam (mechanism)|cam]]s on the [[axle]] of a water-driven [[Scoop (tool)|scoop]]-[[Water wheel|wheel]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Donald Routledge |author-link1=Donald Routledge Hill |chapter=Engineering |pages=751–795 [779]|editor-last1=Rashed |editor-first1=Roshdi |editor-last2=Morelon |editor-first2=Régis |date=1996 |title=Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-12410-2 |title-link=Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science }}</ref> His 'Monobloc' pump could also create a partial [[vacuum]].

===Mechanical clocks===
[[File:Astronomical clock 0910.jpg|thumb|Example of astronomical clock like Taqi al-Din's invention.]]
The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] engineer [[Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf|Taqi al-Din]] invented a mechanical [[astronomical clock]], capable of striking an [[Alarm clock|alarm]] at any time specified by the user.  He described the clock in his book, ''The Brightest Stars for the Construction of Mechanical Clocks'' (''Al-Kawākib al-durriyya fī wadh' al-bankāmat al-dawriyya''), published in 1559.  Similarly to earlier 15th-century European alarm clocks,<ref>p. 249, ''The Grove encyclopedia of decorative arts'', Gordon Campbell, vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 2006, {{ISBN|0195189485}}.</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20081121090042/http://national-clockshop-directory.com/Clock-Dictionary/m-main.htm "Monastic Alarm Clocks, Italian"]}}, entry, Clock Dictionary.</ref> his clock was capable of sounding at a specified time, achieved by placing a peg on the dial wheel. At the requested time, the peg activated a ringing device.  This clock had three [[Dial (measurement)|dials]] which showed the hours, degrees and minutes.

He later designed an observational clock to aid in observations at his [[Constantinople Observatory of Taqi ad-Din]] (1577–1580).  In his treatise ''In The Nabk Tree of the Extremity of Thoughts'', he wrote: "We constructed a mechanical clock with three dials which show the hours, the minutes, and the seconds. We divided each minute into five seconds".  This was an important innovation in 16th-century practical astronomy, as at the start of the century clocks were not accurate enough to be used for astronomical purposes.<ref name="Tekeli"/>

An example of a watch which measured time in minutes was created by an [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] watchmaker, Meshur Sheyh Dede, in 1702.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Topkapi's Turkish Timepieces|first=Paul|last=Horton |journal=Saudi Aramco World |date=July–August 1977|pages=10–13|url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197704/topkapi.s.turkish.timepieces.htm|access-date=12 July 2008}}</ref>

===Steam power===
In 1551, [[Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf|Taqi al-Din]] described an early example of an impulse [[steam turbine]] and also noted practical applications for a steam turbine as a prime mover for rotating a [[Rotisserie|spit]], predating [[Giovanni Branca]]'s later impulse steam turbine from 1629. Taqi al-Din described such a device in his book, ''Al-Turuq al-saniyya fi al-alat al-ruhaniyya'' (''The Sublime Methods of Spiritual Machines''), completed in 1551 AD (959 AH).<ref name=Taqi>[[Ahmad Y Hassan]] (1976), ''Taqi al-Din and Arabic Mechanical Engineering'', pp. 34–35. Institute for the History of Arabic Science, [[University of Aleppo]].</ref> (See ''[[Steam jack]]''.)

[[Ottoman Egypt]]ian industries began moving towards [[steam power]] in the early 19th century. In [[Egypt under Muhammad Ali]], industrial manufacturing was initially driven by machinery that relied on traditional energy sources, such as [[animal power]], [[water wheel]]s, and [[windmill]]s, which were also the principle energy sources in Western Europe up until around 1870. Under [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt]] in the early 19th century, [[steam engine]]s were introduced to Egyptian industrial manufacturing, with [[boiler]]s manufactured and installed in industries such as [[ironworks]], textile manufacturing, [[paper mill]]s, and [[hulling]] mills. While there was a lack of [[coal]] deposits in Egypt, prospectors searched for coal deposits there, and imported coal from overseas, at similar prices to what imported coal cost in France, until the 1830s, when Egypt gained access to coal sources in [[Lebanon]], which had a yearly coal output of 4,000 tons. Compared to Western Europe, Egypt also had superior [[agriculture]] and an efficient [[transport]] network through the [[Nile]]. Economic historian Jean Batou argues that the necessary economic conditions for rapid [[industrialization]] existed in Egypt during the 1820s–1830s, as well as for the adoption of [[oil]] as a potential energy source for its steam engines later in the 19th century.<ref name="batou193">{{cite book|title=Between Development and Underdevelopment: The Precocious Attempts at Industrialization of the Periphery, 1800–1870|author=Jean Batou|publisher=[[:fr:Librairie Droz|Librairie Droz]]|year=1991|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HjD4SCOE6IgC&pg=PA193|pages=193–196|isbn=9782600042932}}</ref>

==Military==
{{See also|Ottoman weapons|Military of the Ottoman Empire}}
[[File:Exterior_view_of_Kuleli_Askeri_Lisesi_from_the_Bosphorus_(2).jpg|thumb|left|[[Kuleli Military High School]] in [[Istanbul]] near [[Bosphorus]].]]

[[Image:Dardanelles Gun Turkish Bronze 15c.png|thumb|right|The cast-bronze [[Dardanelles Gun]] from 1464]]
[[Image:OttomanJanissariesAndDefendingKnightsOfStJohnSiegeOfRhodes1522.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Ottoman army|Ottoman]] [[Janissary]] corps were using [[matchlock]] [[musket]]s since the 1440s. They are depicted battling the [[Knights Hospitaller]] in this 1522 painting.]]

The Ottoman Empire in the 16th century was known for their military power throughout southern Europe and the Middle East.  The [[Harquebus]], "also spelled arquebus, also called [[hackbut]], first gun fired from the shoulder, a smoothbore matchlock with a stock resembling that of a rifle".<ref name="Shotgun {{!}} weapon">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/shotgun|title=Shotgun {{!}} weapon|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en|access-date=22 November 2019}}</ref> It was also first appeared in the Ottoman Empire and was referred to as a handgun. The German Gun was obtained by the German word "hooked gun".<ref name="Shotgun {{!}} weapon"/>

Ottoman [[artillery]] included a number of [[cannons]], most of which were designed by Turkish engineers, in addition to a cannon designed by [[Hungarian people|Hungarian]] engineer [[Orban]],<ref name="Hammer">{{cite book |last1=Hammer |first1=Paul E. J. |title=Warfare in Early Modern Europe 1450–1660 |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781351873765 |page=511 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ugkkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT511}}</ref>{{sfn|Ágoston|2005|pp=45-46}} who had earlier offered his services to the [[Byzantine|Byzantine Empire]] emperor [[Constantine XI]].<ref name="Runciman 79-80">{{cite book|last = Runciman|first = Steven|author-link=Steven Runciman|year = 1990|title = The Fall of Constantinople, 1453|publisher = Cambridge University Press|isbn = 9780521398329}}, pp. 79–80</ref><ref name="Nicolle 13">{{cite book|last = Nicolle|first = David|author-link=David Nicolle|year = 2000|title = Constantinople 1453: The end of Byzantium|publisher = Osprey Publishing|isbn = 1-84176-091-9}}, pp. 13, 22</ref> Orban's price for the cannons was high, so the [[Byzantine emperor]] of [[Constantinople]] was not able to afford it. [[Mehmed II]] was determined to win the battle, and used cannons to blast through Constantinople's huge wall during the [[Fall of Constantinople|siege of Constantinople]] on 6 April 1453.

The [[Dardanelles Gun]] was designed and cast in bronze in 1464 by Munir Ali, weighed nearly a ton, and had a length of 5.18m.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} The large gun operated a 635mm caliber rounds and was able to fire marble boulders. To put things into perspective, this round was nearly 6 times larger than the main British tank caliber gun at 120mm.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} The Dardanelles Gun was still present for duty more than 340 years later in 1807, when a [[Royal Navy]] force appeared and commenced the [[Dardanelles Operation]]. Turkish forces loaded the ancient relics with [[propellant]] and [[projectile]]s, then fired them at the British ships. The British squadron suffered 28 casualties from this bombardment.<ref name="Schmidtchen 1977b, 226–228">Schmidtchen, Volker (1977b), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit", ''Technikgeschichte'' '''44''' (3): 213–237 (226–228)</ref>

The [[musket]] appeared in the Ottoman Empire by 1465.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ayalon |first1=David |title=Gunpowder and Firearms in the Mamluk Kingdom: A Challenge to Medieval Society (1956) |date=2013 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781136277320 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WmpySZZNJhcC&pg=PT126}}</ref> [[Damascus steel]] was used in the production of firearms such as the musket from the 16th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pacey |first=Arnold |title=Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-year History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C&pg=PA80 |year=1991 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-66072-3 |page=80}}</ref> A musket is a long gun which materialized in the Ottoman Empire by 1465.  These were large hand-held guns made out of steel and were capable of penetrating heavy armor; however, these guns by the mid-16th century disappeared because heavy armor declined.  There were many more versions of the musket which eventually became known as the rifle.  In the 15th century the Ottomans had perfected the musket by creating a gun that used a lever and spring.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C&pg=PA80|title=Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-year History|last=Pacey|first=Arnold|date=1991|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-66072-3|language=en}}</ref>  These were much more easy to use during combat. Eventually the rifle as we know today ended the era of the musket.

Turkish arquebuses may have reached China before Portuguese ones.{{sfn|Chase|2003|p=144}} In 1598, Chinese writer Zhao Shizhen described Turkish muskets as being superior to Japanese muskets.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Needham |first1=Joseph |title=Science and Civilisation in China|volume= 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic |date=1987 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9780521303583 |page=444 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hNcZJ35dIyUC&pg=PA444}}</ref>

The Chinese military book ''[[Wu Pei Chih]]'' (1621) describes a Turkish musket that, rather than using a matchlock mechanism, instead uses a [[rack-and-pinion]] mechanism. On release of the trigger, the two racks return automatically to their original positions. This was the first time a rack-and-pinion mechanism is known to have been used in a firearm, with no evidence of its use in any European or East-Asian firearms at the time.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Needham |first1=Joseph |title=Science and Civilisation in China|volume =5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology: The Gunpowder Epic |date=1987 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9780521303583 |page=446 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hNcZJ35dIyUC&pg=PA446}}</ref>

The Ottoman Empire military was also tactically proficient in the use of small arms weapons such as [[rifle]]s and [[handgun]]s. Like many other great powers, the Ottomans issued the M1903 Mauser [[Bolt action|bolt-action]] rifle to its most elite front-line infantry and cavalry soldiers, also known as [[Janissaries]].<ref name="nzhistory.govt.nz">{{Cite web|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/ottoman-empire/weapons-of-the-ottoman-empire|title=Weapons of the Ottoman Army – The Ottoman Empire {{!}} NZHistory, New Zealand history online|website=nzhistory.govt.nz|access-date=22 November 2019}}</ref> With a five-round box magazine and maximum effective range of 600 meters, the Ottomans were able to effectively engage enemy soldiers when they were unable to utilize field artillery cannons. Second line units, or Jardamas, were primarily issued obsolete single shot weapons such as the M1887 rifle, M1874 rifle or older modeled revolvers.<ref name="nzhistory.govt.nz"/> Officers in the [[Ottoman Empire Army]] were authorized to purchase their own personal handguns from the various number of European craftsmen.  {{clear}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Science|Technology}}

* [[List of Ottoman scientists]]
* [[Ali Qushji]]
* [[Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi]], Ottoman aviator
* [[Lagari Hasan Celebi]], Ottoman aviator
* [[List of inventions in the medieval Islamic world]]
* [[Piri Reis]]
* [[Science in the medieval Islamic world]]
* [[Taqi ad-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf]]
* [[Timeline of science and engineering in the Islamic world]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* ''History of Astronomy Literature during the Ottoman Period'' by [[Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu]] {{ISBN?}}
* {{cite book|last=Ágoston|first=Gábor |title=Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0521843133}}
* {{Citation |last=Chase |first=Kenneth |year=2003 |title=Firearms: A Global History to 1700 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-82274-2}}.
*"Weapons of the Ottoman Army – The Ottoman Empire | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". ''nzhistory.govt.nz''. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
*''5 Weapons Used by the Ottomans'', retrieved 22 November 2019 {{ISBN?}}
*"Mehter – The Oldest Band in the World". ''web.archive.org''. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2019.

== Further reading==
* Şen, A. Tunç; Stolz, Daniel A. (2025), Wick, Alexis (ed.), "[[doi:10.1017/9781009086202.021|Ottoman Science: Institutions, Genres, Materials]]", ''The Cambridge Companion to Ottoman History'', Cambridge University Press, pp.&nbsp;236–250,
* ''Science among the Ottomans: The Cultural Creation and Exchange of Knowledge'' by Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, 2015, University of Texas Press {{ISBN?}}

{{Ottoman Empire topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Science And Technology in the Ottoman Empire}}
[[Category:Science and technology in the Ottoman Empire| ]]
[[Category:Science in the medieval Islamic world|Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Technology in the Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Science in the Middle Ages]]