Et-Turuku’s-Seniyye fi’l-Âlâti’r-Ruhâniye

The new goal of research in the field of the history of science in Türkiye is to translate scientific texts into modern Turkish in order to reveal the reality of Islamic scientific literature. Thus, these scientific works will become usable as example problems and questions in textbooks at all levels today. This will make it possible to conduct further research in the field of the history of science in Türkiye. It will enable young people to discover the fascinating aspects of scientific texts. Ultimately, we hope this will contribute not only to studies in the history of science but to all scientific endeavors as well.

Research on fine technology, which began in the 9th century with the work Kitab el-Hiyel by the Benu Musa brothers, continued in the 13th century with Ebul-İzz el-Cezerî's (d. after 1204) with his work Kitab Beyn el-İlm ve’l-Amel en-Nâfi’ fî Sına’ati’l-Hiyel.

Takiyüdin er-Rasıd, the author of Et-Turuku’s-Seniyye fi’l-Âlâti’r-Ruhâniye, which we discuss here, was an Ottoman scientist who lived in the same century as scholars such as Leonardo da Vinci (d. 1519) and Tycho Brahe (d. 1601). Among the nearly thirty works he authored, the book we have selected represents the final and most comprehensive work in the tradition of writing “hiyel” books within Islamic civilization. Hiyel books contain timeless technologies that remain relevant to this day. Therefore, in order to make this book accessible to today’s readers, we have endeavored to illustrate the translation with technical drawings as much as possible.