Chamber Talks
Observatories Founded to Survey the Weather Conditions of İstanbul from the 19th Century up to the Republic
Mithat Atabay
26 January 2017 / 18:30
Chamber Talks continue with a talk titled “Observatories Founded to Survey the Weather Conditions of İstanbul from the 19th Century up to the Republic” by Mithat Atabay.
Ever since the ancient times, humans have tried to protect themselves from the negative effects of meteorological events and to make use of their positive effects. It can be observed that throughout history many settlements and civilizations have suffered and collapsed because of the negative effects of meteorological events, while some others have become the most developed among their contemporaries due to the positive effects of meteorological factors. Hence, meteorology is considered to be as old as the dawn of humanity. However, its scientific development started during the Early Modern Age, a period which was based on reason and science, and it has become a scientific field developing constantly.
Within the historical continuum, the first observatory founded in the Ottoman Empire had been destroyed in the 16th century, but it can be seen that observatories were reopened in the 19th century with the help of both the state and private schools. The First World War fought at the very beginning of the 20th century necessitated the foundation of observatories with military purposes connected to the technologies of warfare. The most prominent of these observatories was the Central Observatory opened in Istanbul. Even though the only observatory that the republic inherited from the empire was the Kandilli Observatory, in the course of time, the new state opened new observatories in Istanbul at places such as Yeşilköy, Göztepe, Florya, and Kireçburnu in order to survey meteorological conditions and to make forecasts according to these observations.
Free of admissions; drop in.
The talk will be in Turkish.
