Mauricio Nieto Olarte2026-03-222026-03-22200910.60692/k4wrs-w0x90https://doi.org/10.60692/k4wrs-w0x90https://andeanlibrary.org/handle/123456789/66684This article discusses a number of key issues in the history of sixteenth-century Iberian science: the role of sixteenth-century Spanish science in the construction of modern science; the encounter of Western science with other forms of knowledge; the relationship between science and empire; and the construction of a Eurocentric world order. The author concludes by suggesting that the idea of "comprehension" -as both a form of appropriation and a process of self-construction- can help explain the political character of science and its role in the Iberian conquest of the New World.enPhilosophyHumanitiesarticle