Antonio Santucci (?–1613) was an Italian astronomer, cosmographer, and scientific instrument maker. He was a reader in

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

during 1599–1612. Santucci was an astronomer and cosmographer to Grand Duke Ferdinand I (1549–1609) and later Cosimo II (1590–1621). An attentive observer of

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

s, most notably that of 1582, he published in 1611 the first edition of ''Trattato delle comete'', in which he argued that, contrary to the prevailing scientific opinion, comets were not atmospheric phenomena. The following year, he wrote ''Breve discorso sopra il trattato galileiano sulle galleggianti'' (which survives in manuscript at the

National Central Library The National Central Library (NCL; ) is the national library of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan), which is located at No. 20, Zhongshan S. Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 10001, Taiwan. It will soon have a subsidiary called Southe ...

). He also authored a treatise in 1593, commissioned by Ferdinand I, on the mathematical and surveying instruments in the Guardaroba Medicea collection. His monumental

armillary sphere An armillary sphere (variations are known as spherical astrolabe, armilla, or armil) is a model of objects in the sky (on the celestial sphere), consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centered on Earth or the Sun, that represent lines of ...

s are famous. One sphere, made in 1582 for King

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

, is now at the

Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

; the other, the most famous Santucci's Armillary Sphere, built in 1588–1593 for the Sala delle Matematiche in the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

, is now at the

Museo Galileo Museo Galileo, the former ''Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza'' (Institute and Museum of the History of Science) is located in Florence, Italy, in Piazza dei Giudici, along the River Arno and close to the Uffizi Gallery. The museum, dedicate ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

.Meucci, Ferdinando. La sfera armillare di Tolomeo. Tipografia del Vocabolario, 1876.

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{{Authority control Italian scientific instrument makers Academic staff of the University of Pisa 17th-century Italian astronomers Italian astronomers Astronomical instrument makers