An Evaluation of First Comprehensive Turkish Engineering Book Called Mecmuat el-Mühendisin its Subjects and Content

Abstract

The article begins by giving a short bibliography of Hüseyin Rıfkı Tamani and evaluates the book entitled Mecmuat el-Mühendisin (Compilation for Engineers) he wrote for the students of the Engineering School or Mühendishane. The book is important on the account of being the first extensive engineering book in Turkish language. Moreover the book gives us important information about the conception of engineering in that time through the topics it deals with and the ways in which it treats them. In the article we describe the topics covered and compare them with the knowledge of Europeans about mathematics at that period. In doing this, we try to demonstrate the meaning of his choice with respect to our history of science and mathematics, discussing his ways of selecting and dealing with the topics.