"Das gründlich recherchierte Buch kann jedem, der sich für die Wissenschafts- und Technikgeschichte der Frühen Neuzeit interessiert, wärmstens empfohlen werden." ["The thoroughly researched book can be warmly recommended to anyone interested in early modern science and technology."]
Günther Oestmann, Acta Historica Astronomiae (2019) 66: 210-211

"Today that our knowledge of Torriani’s life and work has vastly increased, the need was felt for a book illustrating the life of the great technician from Cremona. Zanetti’s volume fully meets this need and brilliantly makes use of the many sources available today, providing a detailed historical reconstruction of the different milieus frequented byTorriani at various stages in his life.
Elio Nenci (Università degli Studi di Milano), Nuncius 34 (2019): 192-194

"I wholeheartedly recommend Zanetti's work, which chronicles the career of Janiello Torriani, "the prince among the architects of clocks", a master technician in the cutting of gears and a skilled hydrological engineer."
Donald J. Kagay (University of Dallas), Sixteenth Century Journal XLIX/4 (2018): 1179-1181

"Thanks to deep delving in Italian and Spanish archives and wide reading in the latest secondary sources, Zanetti throws new light on Torriano [a.k.a. Torriani] and the social structures within which he worked. No one interested in the technology of this period can afford to ignore this book."
Anthony Turner, Antiquarian Horology, March 2018, pp. 115-116