Giovanni Aldini’s Presentation of His Fireproof Invention to the Palace
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.16947/fsmia.1136519Keywords:
Waterpump, asbestos, fire, fire department, Giovanni AldiniAbstract
Significant progress was made in the fight against fire as a common problem of humanity in the 19th century. The impact of Italian scientist Giovanni Aldini is great on this progress. Aldini invented a fireproof fabric woven from asbestos together with various materials for firefighters to use during a fire. Aldini, who made production and scientific publications about this invention, had exercises done in various centers in Europe. While these developments were taking place in Europe, the Ottoman Empire closed the Tulumbacılar Corps together with the Janissary Corps in 1826 and left no official institution to
fight the fire. Since there was no institution to fight the Hocapaşa fire that broke out on August 2, 1826, many state institutions, especially the Bâbıali, suffered serious damage. After introducing his invention to the European kingdoms and nobles, Giovanni Aldini applied to the Ottoman sultan about his fire protection inventions just after the 1826 Hocapaşa fire. In this study, the letter of Aldini and the Turkish abstract of it written to present his fireproof fabric and other products produced from asbestos to Sultan Mahmud II are discussed. Despite, Aldini presenting information about his invention at a time when the Ottoman state needed it most, the reasons why it was not evaluated will also be examined.
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