Reader in Mathematics at the University of Pisa  1599-1612  Antonio Santucci was an astronomer and cosmographer to Grand Duke Ferdinand I (1549-1609) and later Cosimo II (1590-1621) An attentive observer of comets  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