Zanotti, Francis Maria

, an eminent Italian mathematician, was born at Bologna in January 1692, and was educated among the Jesuits. His first pursuit was the law, which he soon exchanged for philosophy, and particularly mathematics. In philosophy he was at first a Cartesian, but when sir Isaac Newtbn’s discoveries were divulged, he was among the first to acknowledge his great superiority, particularly in optics and astronomy. He was made librarian and secretary to the academy of Bologna, and wrote a Latin history of its transactions continued down to 1766, and he also contributed many mathematical papers of great importance. But his talents were not confined to philosophy and mathematics: he was also a distinguished poet both in the Tuscan and Latin languages, and in the latter, was thought a successful imitator of Catullus, Tibullus, Ovid, and Virgil. After a life honourably spent in those various pursuits, which procured him great fame, he died Dec. 25, 1777. He published a great many works, both in Italian and Latin, which are enumerated by Fabroni. ²