Ottoman Science in the 19th Century

The front of the 19th century astrolabe quadrant that is in the centre of this study

Project leader: Silke Ackermann

Department: Prehistory and Europe

Project start: ongoing
End date: tbc.

Description:

This is the study of an extraordinary nineteenth-century Ottoman astrolabe-quadrant in the context of contemporary European and Ottoman instrument-making.

Objectives:

To highlight the exchange of knowledge between the Islamic World and Western Europe;

To explain in detail the construction and use of the instrument and to provide a paper-model that the reader can make for him/herself;

To explore the background of the markings on the instrument in the context of developments in the Ottoman
Empire in the nineteenth century.

Image:

  • The front of the nineteenth-century astrolabe quadrant that is in the centre of this study