Learned Patriots. Debating Science, State, and Society in the Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Empire

M. ALPER YALÇINKAYA, Learned Patriots. Debating Science, State, and Society in the Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Empire (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2015), Pp. 314, $ 50.00 cloth.

This study aims to examine the reception of modern natural sciences among nineteenth-century Muslim Ottoman elites and literates is the periods of Selim III, Mahmud II, the Tanzimat, and the Hamidian era. The main question of the book is "What were Muslim Ottomans talking about when they talked about science?" (12). Ultimately, the author suggests the existence of an intertwined relationship between scientific discourses and legitimation conflicts involving ruling elites and intellectuals, whereby values such as patriotism, virtue, and morality were utilized. Yalçinkaya's work consists of seven chapters in addition to introductory and concluding parts.

The first chapter (20-41) concentrates on the emergence of discussions on modern sciences between 1789 and 1839. Here prominent intellectuals of the Nizam-i Cedid era and the reign of Mahmud II are presented as holders of "new knowledge," who at this early stage were under state protection. This small group of learned Muslims consisted mainly of graduates of the Military Engineering School or members of diplomatic staff employed at embassies in European capitals. After 1831 the official gazette Takvim-i Vekayi became the main instrument for conveying "new knowledge" among the elites in the capital and the provinces. The next chapter (42-67), focusing on the period after 1830, discusses the main constituents of the emerging official discourse on modern sciences and the nature of the social agents who formulated and used it. Many of these bureaucrats were products of the Translation Office at the Sublime Porte and gained strength at the expense of the sultan and the ulema. This new class developed self-confidence as they perceived themselves as the holders of European scientific information. This kind of knowledge would strengthen the state and empire; therefore, to acquire modern sciences meant to be a good subject of the sultan and to be patriotic. Modern sciences were called ilm, a term originally used for Islamic sciences. The usage of ilm for the new sciences implied harmony of modern and traditional knowledge. In this chapter information is provided about the new government schools and on specific examples of...