Viyana’da Matematikçi Bir Subay “Hamdi Efendi ve Beyân-ı Kâide-i Cedîde”

From the Ottoman period to the present day, many students have been sent abroad to receive an education and to gain firsthand knowledge of the developments and innovations of European civilization. Various works have been written based on these students’ views, knowledge, and observations regarding the social, political, and academic circles in the countries they visited. Such works are extremely valuable in terms of shedding light on their activities abroad. However, the scope and content of these students’ scientific activities have rarely been addressed in these works.

In this study, we examine the treatise titled Beyân -ı Kâide-i Cedîde fî Halli Berâ-yı Muâdelât-ı Adediyye-i Âlîye, which he prepared based on the article Die Auflösung der höheren numerischen Gleichungen by the Austrian mathematician Karl Heinrich Gräffe, which was written in Vienna where he was sent for higher education, is examined in the context of being one of the first examples contributing to modern mathematics in the Ottoman Empire. This work, which includes a comprehensive biography of Hamdi Efendi based on archival documents regarding his life and scholarly work, as well as the text of Beyân-ı Kâide-i Cedîde transcribed into the modern Turkish alphabet and a mathematical analysis of it, represents a first in terms of examining Hamdi Efendi’s mathematical studies in Vienna using primary sources. Beyân-ı Kâide-i Cedîde is also a multi-layered study of the history of mathematics that incorporates political, social, and scientific factors, along with reflections on various topics such as the Ottomans’ modern education policies, the academic mindset of students in Europe, and the level of knowledge produced.