An engineer and astronomer from Bologna, he was a pupil of Eustachio Manfredi (1674-1739). Assistant at the Bologna Observatory already at the age of twenty, he became its director at the death of his master, which took place in 1739. One of the most renowned astronomers of his time, Zanotti was a member of numerous Italian and foreign academies, among them the Royal Society of London and the Berlin Academy of Science. A prolific author, he conducted numerous observations on the Sun, the Moon, the planets and the comets. Among his books we may recall one of the first stellar catalogues based on modern principles, dating from 1750, and the three volumes of Bolognese Ephemeris compiled starting from 1751 in collaboration with his assistants Petronio Matteucci and Gabriele Brunelli, as well as numerous studies in mathematics and hydraulic engineering.