"This study is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature that seeks to re-evaluate Iberian scientific activity in America in the early modern period. It is an ambitious work that takes an original approach to establishing how the Spanish sought to build and understand their Atlantic empire, viewing technological practices as part of the broad networks of diverse actors where scientific, technical, political, religious and commercial factors converged. Nieto’s clear and compelling narrative highlights the importance of understanding the interactions of these "machines of empire", an approach that allows us to understand anew how the Spanish saw themselves as fulfilling a providential mission in America."
- Dr Edward Collins, University College Dublin
''...this is a very informative and well-written book that invites a wider, primarily anglophone, audience to become better acquainted with the history of proto-scientific knowledge in the Iberian world. It will also be of interest to maritime historians who wish to learn more about the intellectual underpinnings and knowledge-production contexts of Europe’s interoceanic shipping''.
-Edgar Pereira, International Journal of Maritime History, 35(2), 2023