Kandilli rasathanesi'nin kurucusu Mehmed Fatin Gökmen'in hayatı ve eserleri

Abstract

Osmanlı'nın son döneminde yetişmekle birlikte Cumhuriyet'in ilk yıllarında da bilimsel çalışmalarını sürdüren Fatin Gökmen, Türkiye'de modern astronomi eğitiminin ve gözlemevi çalışmalarının gelişmesine öncülük eden önemli bir bilim insanıdır. Bu tez, Fatin Gökmen'in hayatını, eğitimini, bilimsel çalışmalarını ve özellikle Kandilli Rasathanesi'ndeki rolünü inceleyerek onun Osmanlı ve Cumhuriyet dönemleri arasındaki bilimsel sürekliliğe katkılarını analiz etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmada, öncelikle Osmanlı'nın son döneminde astronomi biliminin durumu ele alınmış ve bu bağlamda Fatin Gökmen'in yetiştiği bilimsel ortam incelenmiştir. Ardından, Gökmen'in eğitim süreci, akademik kariyeri ve bilimsel çalışmaları detaylandırılarak Osmanlı-Türk bilim tarihi içindeki yeri değerlendirilmiştir. Gökmen'in özellikle Kandilli Rasathanesi'nin kurulması ve geliştirilmesindeki katkıları, Türkiye'de modern astronomi eğitiminin temellerinin atılması açısından ele alınmıştır. Tezde, Fatin Gökmen'in çalışmaları Osmanlı Türkçesi kaynaklar, arşiv belgeleri, bilim tarihi literatürü ve dönemin bilim insanlarıyla ilgili çeşitli kaynaklar üzerinden değerlendirilmiştir. Metodolojik olarak tarihsel araştırma yöntemi benimsenmiş, birincil ve ikincil kaynaklar karşılaştırmalı olarak analiz edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak, Fatin Gökmen'in astronomi alanındaki katkılarının sadece kendi dönemindeki bilimsel gelişmelerle sınırlı kalmadığı, aynı zamanda modern Türkiye'de bilimsel kurumların şekillenmesinde de önemli bir rol oynadığı ortaya konulmuştur. Bu çalışmanın, Osmanlı'dan Cumhuriyet'e bilimsel sürekliliği anlamaya ve Türk bilim tarihine dair yeni perspektifler sunmaya katkı sağlaması amaçlanmaktadır.

Fatin Gökmen, educated during the late Ottoman period and active in the early years of the Republic of Türkiye, emerged as a pioneering figure in the advancement of modern astronomy education and the institutionalization of observatory practices in the country. This thesis examines Fatin Gökmen's life, education, scientific endeavors, and particularly his role at the Kandilli Observatory, in order to analyze his contributions to the continuity and transformation of scientific thought between the Ottoman and Republican periods. The study first addresses the state of astronomy in the late Ottoman era, providing an overview of the scientific environment in which Gökmen was trained. Subsequently, the study explores his educational background, academic career, and scientific work in detail, assessing his place within the broader context of Ottoman-Turkish scientific history. Special emphasis is placed on Gökmen's efforts in the establishment and development of the Kandilli Observatory, which played a foundational role in the advancement of modern astronomy education in Turkey. The study also seeks to present a comprehensive portrait of Fatin Gökmen's scientific and intellectual profile, together with documents, works, and a bibliography that have not previously been examined in depth. To this end, interviews were conducted with some of Gökmen's living relatives, and archival documents, private letters, and his writings in periodicals were analyzed to prepare a verified and extensive biography. Furthermore, a systematic bibliography of his works has been compiled, filling a notable gap in the existing literature on the history of science. One of the main foundations of this thesis is Gökmen's multifaceted engagement with both theoretical and applied sciences. His efforts encompassed the reconstruction of the technical infrastructure of the Observatory, astronomical observations, earthquake research, calendar and time regulation, geomagnetism, and meteorological studies. In parallel, he pioneered the acquisition of scientific instruments, the establishment of collections in the Observatory and its museum, and the creation of an astronomy corpus. At the same time, through his lectures at Dârülfünûn and his students at the Observatory, he contributed to the training of a new generation of scientists and distinguished himself with his endeavors toward the institutionalization of science. Gökmen's scientific outreach activities directed at broader segments of society are also noteworthy. Through the articles he published in newspapers and journals, he informed the public about science, astronomy, and the history of science, thereby serving as a mediator between science and society. Nevertheless, the fact that such a versatile and influential scholar has not been comprehensively studied in the academic literature renders this work all the more significant and necessary. This thesis thus seeks not only to construct the portrait of an individual scholar but also to address a major gap in understanding the scientific environment, institutions, and conditions of knowledge production of the period. Through the life and works of Fatin Gökmen, it becomes possible to gain deeper insights into the transformation of scientific thought and institutions, the challenges encountered, and the solutions developed during the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic. In this thesis, Gökmen's work is examined through a wide range of sources, including Ottoman Turkish texts, archival documents, the literature on the history of science, and various material related to other scientists of the period. A historical research methodology has been adopted, employing a comparative analysis of both primary and secondary sources. Fatin Gökmen's articles, written in Ottoman Turkish and published in leading journals and newspapers of the period-most notably in the Journal of the Faculty of Science of Dârülfünûn have been translated into modern Turkish and analyzed. Of particular importance is his article on Taqī al-Dīn al-Rāsid, which, owing to the evaluations it contains, is noteworthy not only for the history of astronomy but also for the broader field of Islamic history of science. In addition, a collection donated by Gökmen's son, Tarık Gökmen, to the Süleymaniye Library has been examined. This collection consists of 15 manuscripts, 291 printed works, 69 works in the new Turkish script, 16 works in foreign languages, and one archival document, and it includes some of Fatin Gökmen's own works. These were accessed and studied as part of the research. Furthermore, valuable material from Süheyl Ünver's extensive archive was also utilized. When the documents, articles, and biographical elements examined in this thesis are considered together, it becomes evident that Fatin Gökmen acted as both a witness to and a shaper of scientific and social developments during the transition from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic, navigating the challenges and transformations experienced in Turkey and globally. Indeed, as revealed in the bibliographic section of this study, Gökmen's articles published in religious, political, and educational periodicals of the time-such as Sebîlürreşâd, Beyânü'l-Hak, İslâm'ın Nûru, Selâmet and Muhîtu'l-Maârif have been identified, with detailed information on their publication and dates provided. This demonstrates that Fatin Gökmen was a scholar producing ideas within a broader intellectual context. Moreover, his writings on solar and astronomical observations reveal his significant scientific contributions in these fields. These publications reveal Fatin Gökmen's productivity at both observational and theoretical levels, as well as his multifaceted contributions to the field. Fatin Gökmen presents himself both as a scientist devoted to the stars and as one who sought to contribute to his country in almost every field. Although he preferred the solitude of Kandilli, away from the bustle of the city, and cherished the dream of spending his final days at the observatory as an astronomer, sources from his time make it clear that he consistently placed the benefit of his nation at the forefront, both in scientific progress and in social matters. In this context, Fatin Gökmen's biography represents, from the standpoint of the history of science, both the individual success story of a man devoted to the heavens and, at the same time, the story of an era, a tradition, and an intellectual transformation. Within the scope of the study, extensive use has been made of a wide range of sources, including the Ottoman and Republican Archives of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye, the Boğaziçi University Kandilli Observatory Archive, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Atatürk Library, the Süleymaniye Manuscript Library, the Beyazıt State Library, the Prof. Fuat Sezgin and Dr. Ursula Sezgin Library of the History of Sciences, the National Library database, the Gaste Archive, as well as various journals, periodical collections, and the current secondary literature.