Ekmeleddin Ýhsanoðlu is a Turkish scholar and diplomat. He was the founder and chair of the first Department of the History of Science in Turkey at the University of Istanbul and has taught at the universities of Ankara, Exeter, Istanbul, and Munich. He is the founder of IRCICA, Turkish Society for the History of Science (TBTK), and the president of IUHPS (2001-2005). He is the author, co-author and the editor of History of Ottoman State and Civilisation (2 volumes, in eight languages); History of Ottoman Scientific Literature (18 volumes, in Turkish); Science, Technology and Learning in the Ottoman Empire; Different Aspects of Islamic Culture (volume 5: Culture and Learning in Islam); and Ottoman Scientific Legacy (2 volumes, in Turkish) among others. 9

"An original contribution of this book is the detailed scholarly study of how a new Ottoman scientific language developed and its focus on the Ottoman administration which fashioned the new ethos that come to undergird its norms and institutions of the Empire. Given current events in Turkey, it should be of interest to anyone who wants to understand the educational and cultural background of countries that were part of, or in close contact with, the Ottoman Empire. We cannot help asking, how sturdy are the structures of these new universities? The answer can perhaps be read between the lines of this useful and scholarly work." -- William R. Shea, Galileo Professor of History of Science at the University of Padua

"Its comparative approach, scope of coverage, rigorous analysis, and concern for situating the Ottoman experiment in the larger context of global higher education history make The House of Sciences a major contribution. Another important aspect of this well-planned and assiduously researched study is that in addition to providing a definitive account of the Ottoman Darülfünun, it provides the first in-depth analysis of the Ottoman experiment in higher education in the post-Tanzimat era. This book will remain as the standard book on the subject for foreseeable future and would draw considerable interact among scholars." -- M. Sükrü Hanioglu, Garrett Professor in Foreign Affairs and Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University