Medical Studies And Institions In The Ottoman Empire

The scientific studies in the Ottoman Empire are not a very popular subject for the researcher working on the history of science and medicine. However there are some books and papers written on the scientific studies of the Islamic World. But the books which were written on the Western historical scientific activities and the dawn and rise of modern science are innumerable. The scientific studies in the Hellenic and Hellenistic periods have also been studied in detail. In other words, although there are a lot of studies on the historical development of science in the Western World, the scientific activities in the Ottoman Empire have not been adequately studied. For instance, one of the well-known historians of science, George Sarton, has written a book on the history of science, named Introduction to the History of Science in which he discusses Hellenic, Hellenistic, Indian, Chinese and Islamic scientific activities, scientists and their works. In this work he also gives useful bibliographical information that can be used for scientific studies on those subjects. But he does not give any knowledge on the scientific activities in the period of the Ottoman Empire. He also wrote books on history of science in which how gave information about the methods of the history of science and scientific improvements in the Hellenic and Hellenistic Periods. There is another famous writer on the history of science, Charles Singer, who wrote on the history of biology and medicine. We can add some other names that wrote on different scientific activities in different periods in different civilizations like Crombie’s works.