[2] Donati graduated from the university of his native city, Pisa, and afterwards joined the staff of the Observatory of Florence in 1852.

[3] Donati was also a pioneer in the spectroscopic study of the stars, the Sun, and comets.

[3] He observed the total solar eclipse of 18 July 1860, at Torreblanca in Spain, and in the same year began experiments in stellar spectroscopy.

In 1862 he published a memoir, Intorno alle strie degli spettri stellari, which indicated the feasibility of a physical classification of the stars.

An investigation of the great aurora of 4 February 1872 led Donati to refer such phenomena to a distinct branch of science, designated by him "cosmical meteorology".