Abstract:

Mehmed Said Effendi (d. 1767) was an engineering teacher at the Corps of Salaried Bombardiers, founded in 1735 under the direction of Claude Alexandre de Bonneval (alias Humbaracı Ahmed Pasha, 1675-1747) in Istanbul. A treatise he composed on an engineering instrument rub'i muceyyeb-i zü'l-kavseyn (or musellesiye - the trigonometrical instrument), which he says he invented, and another one on pergâr-i relative (the sector) compiled from European sources, witnesses his interest in scientific instruments. This article will introduce Mehmed Said's treatise which describes the plane table used in land-surveying (misâha) dated 1154/1741. Recently found copies will also be mentioned and a Romanized text of the treatise will also be given. Mehmed Said's treatise was penned in a period when Abu Sehl Nu'mân Effendi wrote his Tebyînü A'mâli'l-Misâha, also dealing with the plane table. The present study will also emphasize the possible relationship between the two works.

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Abstract:

Mehmed Said Effendi (d. 1767) was an engineering teacher at the Ulûfeli Humbaracı Ocağı (The Corps of Salaried Bombardiers), founded in 1735 under the direction of Claude Alexandre de Bonneval (alias Humbaracı Ahmed Pasha, 1675-1747) in Istanbul. A treatise he composed on an engineering instrument rub‘-ı müceyyeb-i zü’l-kavseyn (or müsellesiye - the trigonometrical instrument), which he says he invented, and another one on pergâr-ı nisbe (the sector) compiled from European sources, witness his interest in scientific instruments. This article will introduce Mehmed Said’s treatise which describes the plane table used in land-surveying (misâha) dated 1154/1741. Recently found copies will also be mentioned and a Romanized text of the treatise will also be given. Mehmed Said’s treatise was penned in a period when Ebu Sehl Nu‘mân Effendi wrote his Tebyînü A‘mâli'l-Misâha, also dealing with the plane table. The present study will also emphasize the possible relationship between the two works.