Within the scope of the events of the 2019 Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Year, under the auspices of our Presidency and with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in partnership with Istanbul University, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Foundation University, and the Fuat Sezgin Islamic Science History Research Foundation, we had the honor of hosting the first International Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Symposium of Islamic History of Science on 13-15 June at Istanbul University.
Our late Professor Fuat Sezgin, who questioned and evaluated the role of Islamic civilization in the development of sciences with a scientific attitude instead of taking a reactionary defensive stance against the views that limit the role of Islamic civilization in its contribution to inter-civilizational transfer only in certain historical periods, earned an unforgettable place in the history of Islamic science while he was still alive with the dozens of works he published with his commentary, hundreds of volumes of books he uncovered, nearly a thousand scientific tools he unearthed, the scientific institutions he pioneered, and the scientists he inspired.
By remembering our late Professor Fuat Sezgin, who, despite all the obstacles and difficulties he faced, faithfully and patiently devoted his entire life to showing the place of the sciences developed in the Islamic world in the international history of science, and especially to objectively revealing the role of Islamic sciences in the development of the history of Western science, we hope to be able to make a modest contribution in terms of passing his scientific legacy on to future generations.
The symposium we held to honor the legacy of Fuat Sezgin by remembering the works he carried out during his lifetime and to express our gratitude to him was attended by nearly 100 worthy academicians in the field of the history of science from 21 different countries, and this legacy left behind by our late Professor was honored with a total of 79 papers presented over three days. Prepared as a tangible fruit of the symposium and a permanent expression of our gratitude to our late Professor, this proceedings book has been created with the contributions of the esteemed academicians who participated in the symposium. It consists of an introduction section of three articles written on the life and works of our late Professor, and 38 articles in English, Arabic, and Turkish categorized under the titles of Fuat Sezgin’s Contributions to the History of Science, Astronomy, Mathematics, Medicine, Geography, Natural Sciences, and Islamic Studies.
Hoping that this proceedings book we have published will have an important place in the history of Islamic Science literature and make a significant contribution to the field with the belief that it will open the horizons of young researchers, we are grateful to have the opportunity to thank the individuals and institutions for their support in organizing this important event and the preparation of this proceedings book. We would like to express our gratitude to the Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Islamic Science History Research Foundation (IBTAV) Board of Trustees Member N. Bilal Erdoğan, IBTAV Founding President Ethem Sancak, IBTAV Board Chairman Mecit Çetinkaya, former Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism and Zeytinburnu Mayor Ömer Arısoy, the General Director of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation Ibrahim Eren, the Founding Rector of Fatih Sultan Mehmet Foundation University Prof. Dr. Musa Duman, and the Rector of Kırıkkale University Prof. Dr. Ersan Aslan who was the Coordinator of the 2019 Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Year, and in particular to the honorary board members of our symposium, Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin’s esteemed spouse Dr. Ursula Sezgin and their daughter Journalist and Writer Hilâl Sezgin for their participation and support.
We would like to thank the Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Islamic Science History Research Foundation, the Ministry of Culture, Turkish Airlines, Fatih Municipality, and Üsküdar Municipality for providing financial support to our symposium. The Science and Regulation Board and our Secretariat successfully carried out the process of organizing our symposium and the publication of our book. We would like to especially thank the scientists working in the field of Islamic science history from many countries around the world who contributed to our Symposium with their papers.
History of Islamic science studies include a wide range of disciplines from mathematics, astronomy, medicine and other natural sciences to philosophy and social sciences. The goal and vision of our late Professor Fuat Sezgin, who took a holistic approach to all these sciences mentioned, shows us that there are many more studies to be done in this field. The ideas and works left behind by our Professor will be a guide for many scientific studies with research that will be carried out in the coming years. |
