Forgotten Experts: Astrologers, Science, and Authority in the Ottoman Empire, 1450–1600
By A. TUNÇ ŞEN
Forgotten Experts offers a history of Ottoman court astrologers and traces their shifting authority and prestige over the long sixteenth century. These individuals served the Ottoman court with their expertise in mathematical, astronomical, and astrological sciences, distinguishing themselves from other occult practitioners and esoteric specialists. While both prophecy and prognostication are attempts to map the terrain of the future, the astrologers' work did not claim spiritual weight as a prophecy but relied instead on methods of prediction developed from data and patterns elaborated through technical and scientific writings.
About the Author
A. Tunç Şen is an Assistant Professor of History. He specializes in the history of the Ottoman Empire and its many connections with the early modern world. As a social and cultural historian of intellectual practices, Şen primarily focuses on how people perceived the world, the frameworks into which they fit information and beliefs, and the social, political, economic, and emotional structures that shaped and were shaped by their ways of knowing.
About the Speakers
Gil Eyal is a Professor of Sociology. His field encompasses sociological research on science, medicine, professions, intellectuals and knowledge, especially as these intersect with political and legal institutions. He is interested in what scientists and professionals do, but also in how ordinary people as “lay experts” put together novel forms of expertise.
Mark Mazower is the Ira D. Wallach Professor of History. He specializes in modern Greece, 20th-century Europe, and International History. His current interests include the historical evolution of the Greek islands in the very long run.
Pamela H. Smith Pamela H. Smith, Seth Low Professor of History at Columbia University, is founding Director of the Center for Science and Society and its cluster project the Making and Knowing Project.
Justin Stearns the Professor of Arab Crossroads and the head of Arab Crossroads Studies at NYU Abu Dhabi. His research interests focus on the intersection of law, science, and theology in the pre-modern Muslim Middle East.
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