Turkish scientists

15th century was a prolific time for scientific progress in the area as Turkic scholars from all around studied together going back and forth between Turkic states and their scientific centers.

Here are three of the valuable Turkish scientists:

1- Uluğ Bey

This structure you see here is Uluğ Bey Observatory which was built in Timurid Era Samarkand (Uzbekistan):

Uluğ Bey was Timur’s grandson and he was the 4th Sultan of the Timurid Empire as well as being a mathematician and an astronomer.

Uluğ Bey, as his name suggests, is the one who established Uluğ Bey Observatory. After 12 years of extensive studies in his observatory, he compiled his findings in 2 books named Zeyç Kürkani and Zeyç Cedit Sultani both of which later translated into almost all European and several Eastern languages and made great contributions to the field.

During these laborious studies Uluğ Bey worked with a colleague from the Ottoman Empire.

2- Kadızade-i Rumi from Bursa City:

Kadızade-i Rumi as a well-educated mathematician and astronomer, tutored Uluğ Bey, managed the observatory during that time but sadly, he died in Samarkand, a little while before their 12 year of observatory study came to its conclusion. He notably took the field of mathematics one step further by expanding and simplifying the algebra method developed by Gıyaseddin Cemşid for calculating the sine of a degree arc. Kadızade-i Rumi wrote countless books in his lifetime and trained many disciples.

3- Ali Kuşçu:

Ali Kuşçu was born in Samarkand(Uzbekistan) and died in İstanbul(Türkiye). He was a hezarfen(a person who is an expert on multiple fields) and also a part of the observatory team. He took over the management of the observatory after Kadızade’s demise. He is best known for delivering the first astronomical map of the Moon. He even went to China to carry out his studies and on his return, he calculated the Earth’s surface area and the ecliptic as 24 degrees. He later worked for Akkoyunlu Turcoman state as an advisor and finally the Ottoman Empire as a lecturer. He was appointed as a lecturer at Sahn-ı Seman Madrasa upon Fatih Sultan Mehmed’s request.

A celestial map drawn by Ali Kuşçu:

It’s known that the celestial maps drawn by Ali Kuşçu helped Christopher Columbus in the discovery of the American continent.

Ali Kuşçu’s grandchildren now live in Bursa, Düzce, Kahramanmaraş cities of Türkiye bearing the honorable surname Kuşçuoğlu.