An Enlightenment dream of Paris six centuries in the future.

Imagines social reform through reason, education, and moral progress.

First modern utopia set in a specific future year.

A rational paradise: no clergy, no monarchy, science guided by virtue.

Blends prophecy, urban planning, and moral philosophy — proto–science fiction of progress.

One of the earliest space-travel tales in English literature.

Domingo Gonsales reaches the Moon using trained geese.

Describes lunar inhabitants and societies with utopian curiosity.

Reframes divine ascent as mechanical flight — from miracle to method.

Echoes Kepler’s *Somnium* but replaces demons with invention.

Marks the shift from celestial myth to speculative science fiction.

A cosmic satire on scale, knowledge, and human vanity.

Blends Enlightenment rationalism with speculative cosmology.

Micromégas — a giant from Sirius, eight leagues tall, traveling the universe in search of wisdom.

Encounters microscopic humans on Earth — astonishment reversed.

Anticipates first-contact narratives: beings of reason meeting beings of ignorance.

The universe as laboratory for humility...

Voltaire: the 1st one to introduce the alien perspective, the 1st one to "play it big".