Pietro Catena (1501 – 1576) was an Italian astronomer, philosopher, mathematician,[1] theologian and catholic priest, citizen of the Republic of Venice.

He was a precursor of the Renaissance Scientific Revolution and investigated the relationships between mathematics, logic and philosophy.

[2] As a professor in Padua, Catena occupied the same mathematical chair later assigned to Galileo Galilei.

[3] A catholic priest born in Venice in 1501, Pietro Catena was well known as a philosopher and mathematician, and also considered excellent in Greek and Latin.

[4][5] He was a public lecturer[6] of Metaphysics[4] and professor of mathematics at the University of Padua from 1548 to 1576,[3] where Giuseppe Moleti and later Galileo Galilei succeeded him.