Paolo Maffei (1926 – 1 March 2009[1]) was an Italian astronomer and science writer.
He was born in Foligno and he has been former director of the Catania Observatory and an astronomer at Arcetri, Bologna, Asiago and Hamburg. He studied comets, variable stars, galaxies and the evolution of the universe.
Maffei was well-known as a writer of history of astronomy and popularizer of astronomy through a series of books, including the Al di là della Luna (1973) and I mostri del cielo (1976).
P.Maffei, "My Researches at the Infrared Doors", Memorie della Società Astronomica Italiana, Vol. 74 n. 1, 2003, pag. 19-28 (PDF), (from "IV National Conference on Infrared Astronomy, in honour of Paolo Maffei", Perugia, December 4–7, 2001).