|
www.zaman.com Turkish Professor Emeritus of History of Science Fuat Sezgin, who crafted miniatures of 800 inventions by Muslims scholars throughout history and exhibits them in Frankfurt, Germany, fascinates the world.
Sezgin took the initiative to establish a museum in Istanbul similar to the Historical Museum of Islamic Sciences in Frankfurt and received support from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The symbolic works of Sezgin will be exhibited at a museum that will be established in the historic Suleymaniye Complex in Istanbul.
An authority in the history of science, Professor Sezgin will establish the museum in Istanbul similar to the Historical Museum of Islamic Sciences established in Frankfurt, Germany.
About 800 unique inventions from the fields of mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, geography, geology, and mineralogy will be exhibited at the museum. These inventions, today, do not existent and could only be found in books by Muslim scholars from earlier centuries.
Sezgin coming together with Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Atilla Koc in Frankfurt recently said he would like to establish the museum in Istanbul, and that he would be supported both physically and financially.
“I am 81 years old. I’m getting older and don’t have much time left. Let’s finish this project quickly. In this way, I would also pay my debt of loyalty to my country and my nation,†the Professor said. He noted that such a museum would serve as a bridge between the East and the West. “Okay. We are ready. We can assign the Medresetu’r-Rabi at the Suleymaniye Complex for the museum project,†Koc replied.
Sezgin impressed by the minister’s remarks started to prepare the museum project. The renowned scholar will also donate 5,000 unique Islamic handwritten manuscripts, which he was unable to release to the Goethe University for display despite several requests, to the future museum in Istanbul.
Professor Sezgin manufacturing and reviving technological instruments invented by Islamic scholars in the earlier centuries exhibits them in the museum he opened in Frankfurt. Most of these inventions have either become obsolete or remained only in theory in the writings of the Islamic scholars. A water pump and clocks invented by Taqiyuddin Efendi, founder of the Istanbul Observatory in the 16th century, a weighing scale by Biruni and a compass manufactured based on his instructions, a ship by Arabian geographer Ibn Hauqal, the famous globe by Hilfe Ma’mun, and the renowned heaven sphere by Sufi are among the revived instruments exhibited.
Turkish scholars argue that modern science originally emerged from the inventions created by Islamic scholars. Noting that many inventions in the West emanated from inventions developed in the East, the professor specifically called on those that have sense of inferiority to the West to, “come to the museum. You will see that you don’t have a disgraceful history.â€Â
Emphasizing that the Historical Museum of Islamic Sciences was an expression of the rich heritage of the Turkish nation and Islamic civilization, Sezgin continued, “European sciences emanated from Islamic sciences. This fact will be evidenced once again with this museum.
Sezgin is also the director of the Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Sciences at Goethe University. He established the Institute thanks to the King Faisal Prize (considered as the Nobel Prize of the Islamic world) that he won in 1982. He has twice been awarded a medal of merit by the German government. | 
