Mecmû‘a-i Ulûm-i Riyâziyye MATEMATİK BİLİMLER ANSİKLOPEDİSİ
Authors: Başhoca İshak Efendi , Bilgin Zehra , Güllü Enes 
Published: October 2024

This study presents an edited transliteration of the first volume of Bash-khodja Isḥāq Efendy’s Majmūʿa-i ʿUlūm-i Riyāḍiyat, a four-volume encyclopedia of mathematical sciences written in the early nineteenth century. The first volume was printed twice, first in 1831 at the Istanbul Matbaa-i Âmire and in 1841 at the Bulak Matbaası in Cairo, the latter is a partially revised edition of the former. There is also a manuscript copy of this volume in the National Library in Ankara with the location number 06 Mil A556. Comparative reading of these three different versions and showing differences in footnotes as well as correcting incorrect mathematical operations, re- drawing figures in a scale suitable for the narrative, reorgan- izing tables and preparing a glossary that provides access to the knowledge of the period while remaining faithful to the author's definitions and an index of concepts are some of the contributions of the preparers. The first volume covers an introduction and three main chapters; arithmetic (ḥisāb), theory of equations (jabr) and geometry (handasat). In the introduction, basic concepts such as theorem, rule, proof, and conclusion are introduced. The arithmetic section deals with natural numbers, fractional numbers, their arithmetic operations, ratio and proportion; theory of equations section investigates algebraic quantities, symbols, polynomials, arithmetic and geometric series and solutions of equations of different degrees; and the geometry section is about Euclidean geometry, namely lines, surfaces, solids and similarity. The importance of Majmūʿa in history of Ottoman science stems from two different attractions points, the author, and the content. Isḥāq Efendy was one of the most colorful figures of nineteenth century Ottoman intellectual life with his military and civilian engineering works, his bureaucratic positions in the foreign affairs of the state, his inexhaustible curiosity, his endless determination to work, his deep knowledge attained through his sharp mind and elephant memory, his polyglot status and his philological expertise so strong that he was the gateway to decipher the documents of the patriarchate, his place both in education and administration in important in- stitutions in the history of education, and especially the works he published on military technology, mathematics and science in the last decade of his life and his prominent students. Con- sidering these characteristics, Taqvīm- i Vaqāyiʿ calls him "The Second Haji Khalife" in reference to one of the most encyclo- pedic minds seen in the East and the West while he was still alive, and Salih Zeki Beg refers to him as " the most famous of Mutaʾakhirīn- ʿUlamāʾ-i ʿUthmāniya ", looking back from the twentieth century. In this respect, preparers of this book reviewed all his works and added a section that introduces the literature on him. They also shared their opinions on in- consistent or incomplete claims about Isḥāq Efendy and his works. The value of the content can be emphasized by comparing it with classical and contemporary books on the subjects cov- ered in Majmūʿa as well as the internal consistency, style and instructiveness of the text. Presentation of both traditional knowledge and new methods emerging in Europe together, systematic ordering of the subjects, supporting the narrative with various problems, descriptive character of the problems that show the relationship between theory and practice, der- ivation of new scientific terminology in Turkish, questioning of the argumentative structure of the subjects, the variety and density of symbols in the text can be counted among the prominent features of Majmūʿa. In addition to the history of science, results that related to cultural history and the history of translation can be derived from this research. For example, the editing of the original text comparing different copies reveals data on cultural elements regarding the material heritage of the book in addition to its epistemic value. The difference in the typesetting of several expressions such as exponential, trigonometric and fractional numbers on different printing houses can be examined in further research. With accurate reading of the scientific and mathematical terms this edited version of Majmūʿa presents a fruitful source for researchers in debates on the history of terminological transitions as it can be considered as the main Turkish source in mathematical sciences in the nineteenth century.