This book places the palace library within the framework of the multifaceted cultural and scientific activities in the era of the caliphs, Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun, generally regarded as the Golden Age of Islamic civilization.

Studies on Ottoman Science and Culture brings together eleven articles by distinguished historian Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. The book addresses multiple issues related to the histories of science and culture during the Ottoman era. Most of the articles contained in this volume were the first contributions to their respective topics, and they continue to provoke discussion and debate amongst academics to this day. The first volume of the author's collected papers that appeared in the Variorum Collected Studies (2004) dispelled the negative opinions towards Ottoman science asserted by scholars of the previous generation. In this new volume, the author continues to explore and develop the paradigm of scientific activities and cultural interactions both within and beyond the Ottoman Empire. One of the topics examined is the attitude of Islamic scholars towards revolutionary notions in Western science, including Copernican heliocentrism and Darwin's theory of evolution. This book will appeal to scholars and students of Ottoman history, as well as those interested in the history of science and cultural history. (CS1098).

The aim of these studies is to explore the scientific activity and learning that took place within the Ottoman empire, a subject often neglected by both historians of science and of the Ottoman world. Professor Ihsanoglu has been a pioneer in this field. In several papers he analyses the continuing tradition of Arabic science inherited by the Ottomans, together with the contributions made by the conquered Christian and incoming Jewish populations. The main focus, however, is upon the Ottoman reaction to, accommodation with, and eventual acceptance of the Western scientific tradition. Setting this in the context of contemporary cultural and political life, the author examines existing institutions of learning and the spread of 'Western-style' scientific and learned societies and institutions, and charts the adoption of the ideas and methods of Western science and technology. Two case studies look in particular at astronomy and at the introduction of aviation.

Following a string of military defeats at the end of the eighteenth century, Ottoman leaders realized that their classical traditions and institutions could not compete with Russia and the European states' technological and economic superiority.One of a series of nineteenth-century reform initiatives was the creation of a European-style university called darulfunun. From the Arabic words dar, meaning "house," and funun, meaning "sciences," the darulfunun would incorporate the western sciences into deeply entrenched academic traditions and institutions in an effort to bridge the gap with Europe. The completely new institution, distinct from the existing pre-modern medreses, was modeled after the French educational system and created an infrastructure for national universities in Turkey and some of the Arab-speaking provinces. It also influenced the establishment of universities in Iran and Afghanistan. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu's study sheds new light on an important and pioneering experiment in East-West relations, tracking the multifaceted transformation at work in Istanbul during the transition from classical to modern modes of scientific education. Out of this intellectual ferment, a new Ottoman Turkish scientific language developed, the terminology of which served as a convenient vehicle for expressing and teaching modern science throughout the Empire.

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is the Muslim world's only intergovernmental body-the largest such system operating outside of the United Nations. Based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the OIC was founded forty years ago to respond to the Palestinian crisis and counts fifty-seven Muslim countries among its members. It has since branched out into the areas of economic development, education, culture, science, technology, conflict resolution, and tackling Islamophobia. Sharing the history of the OIC with Western readers for the first time, this book details the achievements, successes, and failures of this singular political body and demonstrates why modernization is so central to the continued development of Islamic society. In 2005, the OIC elected Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu of Turkey to transform the organisation's platform and intentions. Ihsanoglu has since tackled the difficult problems of illiteracy and poverty, economic underdevelopment, and ethnic and sectarian conflict. In this history he devotes an important chapter to Islamophobia and its impact on relations between Islam and the West. The OIC treats Islamophobia as a form of racism and xenophobia, and Ihsanoglu explains why it is essential for international institutions to work together to combat violent extremism. He also argues that representative government, free speech, and equal rights for all citizens are critical for Muslim societies, and he envisions the need to reform the OIC as a necessary step toward renewing the Muslim world. One of the most important studies of the Muslim world to emerge directly from its participants, The Islamic World in the New Century ushers in a new era of change.