[THE FIRST POPULAR SCIENCE MAGAZINE OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD / IMPORTANT AND VERY RARE TURKISH MAGAZINES] Tabiat âlemi: Fen ve sanayiin terakkisinden bahseden aylik resimli Türk mecmuasidir. Kânûn-i Evvel 1925 - Kânûn-i Evvel 1926. = Tabiatt Alemi

COMPLETE TITLE: [THE FIRST POPULAR SCIENCE MAGAZINE OF THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD / IMPORTANT AND VERY RARE TURKISH MAGAZINES] طبيعت عالمى: فن و صنايعتك ترقيسندن بحث ايدن ايلق رسملى تورك مجموعسىیدر / Tabiat âlemi: Fen ve sanayiin terakkisinden bahseden aylik resimli Türk mecmuasidir. Kânûn-i Evvel 1925 - Kânûn-i Evvel 1926. = Tabiatt Alemi: Revue scientifique mensuelle. [i.e., The world of nature: An illustrated monthly Turkish journal on the progress of science and industry].

[UZDILEK], SALIH MURAD (1891-1967) (Owner and founder).

Sanayii Mektebi Matbaasi, Istanbul, 1925-1926.

The first twelve issues housed in a modern blue cloth, with gilt-lettered title and issue numbers to the spine. 4to (27.5 × 20.5 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish in Arabic letters). 384, [6] pp., richly illustrated with reproduced photographs and woodcuts. The first two issues lack covers; the remaining issues retain their original wrappers and are bound in. Slight overall toning, with a few marginal tears without loss. Overall, a very good collection.

Exceedingly rare first 12 issues (of 14) of this important, richly illustrated, and the first popular science magazine published in the early Republican period of Turkey. A pioneering periodical, it documented scientific advancements as they were integrated into contemporary social life, covering topics such as wireless communication, electricity, telegraphy, and telephone, as well as fundamental sciences, photography, history of science, science policy, and philosophy of science. The magazine was established and published by Salih Murat Uzdilek, one of the founders of the Turkish Mathematical Society.

The opening article, “Beginning”, offers a self-critical analysis of the nation’s scientific and artistic development, stressing the need for practical knowledge and diligent effort to revitalize society. Salih Murat Uzdilek highlights the essential role of education, scientific awareness, and a love of art in national progress, comparing the pursuit of knowledge to a vital necessity akin to hunger. The magazine also emphasizes the Republic’s modernization efforts under Mustafa Kemal, linking infrastructure, education, and science to societal development, and urging active engagement with Western models of civilization. Tabiat Âlemi advocates a collaborative relationship between readers and knowledge production, fostering early Republican scientific consciousness and serving as both an educational guide and a platform for public intellectual participation.

In its November 1926 issue, the magazine translated and published a play prepared by the "Amerika Riyaziye Cemiyeti" [i.e., American Mathematical Society], and this is one of the earliest texts introducing Einstein's “Theory of Relativity” to the Turkish reader.

After the final issue of Tabiat Âlemi in 1927, no popular science magazine was published in Turkey until Bilim ve Teknik was introduced by TÜBİTAK in 1967. 

Salih Murat Uzdilek, Professor of Physics at Istanbul Technical University, graduated as a naval officer in 1908. His father, Mehmed Sefik Bey, a mathematics teacher, introduced him to the study of mathematics. Uzdilek developed a deep interest in the history of mathematics through reading works by F. Cajori and D. E. Smith.

Before the First World War, he studied engineering in London, where he was invited to present a paper on the "Introduction of Logarithms into Turkey" at the Napier Tercentenary, organized by the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 25-27 July 1914. The paper, published in the Napier Tercentenary Memorial Volume (1915), was based on the research of Salih Zeki Bey, historian of science and Rector of Istanbul University (1913-1917), as presented in his Kamus-i Riyaziyat (Encyclopaedia of Mathematics, 1898).

Uzdilek's findings trace the introduction of logarithms in Turkey to Yirmisekiz Mehmet Çelebi, the Ottoman envoy to France, who in 1714 was presented with an astronomical text containing logarithms by the astronomer Jacques Cassini at the Paris Observatory. Kalfazade Ismail Efendi, a timekeeper and mathematician, compiled an introduction to logarithms for his translation of Cassini’s astronomical tables in 1772, considered the first Turkish work on logarithms. Later, Gelenbevi Ismail Efendi, renowned for his contributions to mathematics and logic, completed his Logaritma Serhi (Commentary on Logarithms) in 1787.

After returning to Istanbul, Uzdilek was invited by Prof. Philipp Forchheimer, the Austrian Dean of the School of Engineering, to teach physics at the institution. Throughout his long career, Prof. Uzdilek pursued his interest in the history of mathematics and physics, conducted research in the physics of sound and music, and contributed to the development of the contemporary tonal system of Turkish music. In his later years, he was also invited to lecture at the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei.

Duman 2055., The TBMM Library of Turkey holds a complete set; as of March 2026, no individual issues or collections could be traced in WorldCat.