[EINSTEIN’S “MEIN WELTBILD” IN TURKISH: THE FIRST WORK BY EINSTEIN TRANSLATED INTO TURKISH] Dünyayi nasil görüyorum. Translated by Kemal Zülfü Taneri (1894-1966), Nazim Kemal

EINSTEIN, ALBERT (1879-1955).

Ilmî Felsefe Nesriyâti / Tecelli Basimevi, Istanbul, 1938.

Original illustrated wrappers. Cr. 8vo. (19 x 14 cm). In Turkish. [2], 68, [1] p., 3 unnumbered ills. A fine copy.

The very rare first Turkish edition of Einstein's "Mein Weltbild", and the first work by Albert Einstein to be translated into Turkish in book form. Published only four years after the first German edition appeared in Amsterdam in 1934, the Turkish edition concentrates on Einstein's writings on science, philosophy, education, religion and relativity, while leaving aside the substantial writings on National Socialism, Jewish identity and Zionism contained in the original collection. It thus introduced Einstein to the Turkish reader primarily as a scientist and philosopher.

The book appeared after nearly two decades of Turkish interest in Einstein and relativity. The mathematician Kerim Erim discussed relativity as early as 1920, while the electrical engineer Mehmed Refik Fenmen's Aynştayn Nazariyesi (1922) was the first Turkish book devoted to Einstein's theory; further mathematical studies followed during the 1920s, notably those of Hüsnü Hamid Sayman. While individual writings by Einstein had appeared in Turkish periodicals by the mid-1930s, Dünyayı Nasıl Görüyorum, published in 1938, was the first work by Albert Einstein to be translated into Turkish in book form.

The selection includes the title essay, “Dünyayı Nasıl Görüyorum” [The World as I See It], together with writings on the meaning of life, good and evil, religion and science, teachers and students, scientific truth and the principles of scientific research. Particularly notable are the texts devoted to the theory of relativity, alongside pieces on Kepler, Lorentz and Maxwell, and on the international character of science. The volume thus offered the early Republican reader a broad introduction to Einstein's own conception of science and scientific inquiry as well as to the ideas for which he was internationally celebrated. The final pages contain advertisements for forthcoming publications from the same press, among which works by such figures as Bertrand Russell are particularly noteworthy.

Sources: As of October 2026, OCLC shows the sole copy worldwide in Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Leipzig (1185709428). Albert Einstein, Mein Weltbild, Amsterdam: Querido Verlag, 1934; Meltem Akbaş, "Einstein'ın Görelilik Teorisini Türkiye'ye Tanıtanlar (I): Mehmed Refik Fenmen ve Kerim Erim", Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları, Vol. IV, No. 2 (2003), pp. 29-58; Meltem Akbaş, "Einstein'ın Görelilik Teorisini Türkiye'ye Tanıtanlar (II): Hüsnü Hamid [Sayman]", Osmanlı Bilimi Araştırmaları, Vol. V, No. 1 (2003), pp. 51-66; "Albert Einstein ve Din", Bilimname, recording and discussing Einstein's writings translated into Turkish periodicals before the present publication; Bilim Tarihi, "Geçmişten Bilim Yayınları", recording the present 1938 edition and its contents.