As we have seen, the complex effort to build an efficient colonial administration, which was a technical and normative problem in itself, was inseparable from an intense scientific activity for the same purpose of attaining control at a distance. The exploration and conquest of the New World and the subsequent shaping of a new world order were the result of a colossal enterprise of religious and commercial expansion, one that only became possible to the extent that what might have been the greatest political, technical, and scientific endeavor in history was developed and put into practice. The fundamental problem of imperial control was establishing an efficient long-distance communication between the metropolis and the newly discovered lands and, in the 16th century, the only means of transatlantic communication were the sailing ships. As we have already pointed out, crossing the Atlantic Ocean implied unprecedented technical challenges. The crossing of the great ocean was a voyage to a new world of which there were no trustworthy reports, nor familiar references, nor maps, nor guides. Once past the confines of the Mediterranean world—without previously established paths, routes, maps, or itineraries, and in the middle of an enormous and nearly infinite sea without visible coasts or islands or any other sign that might guide them—the new navigators of the Atlantic had to solve major technical problems. The ships had to be strong to resist a hostile and wild sea; rapid, to cover long distances with limited provisions; agile, to navigate with or without favorable winds; and of a suitable size, to approach unknown coasts and bays.