What do you think?
Rate this book
Micromegas: And Other Stories
Micromegas is a six-hundred-and-fifty-year-old, thirty-nine-kilometre-high giant from the planet Sirius who can speak a thousand languages and has been expelled from his homeland for writing a heretical tract. On Saturn he befriends the local secretary of the Academy of Sciences - a comparative dwarf, being only two kilometres high - and the two decide to travel to earth together, where they will make startling discoveries about human nature.
160 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2015
3 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Voltaire
9,442 books4,960 followersComplete works (1880) : https://archive.org/details/oeuvresco...
In 1694, Age of Enlightenment leader Francois-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was born in Paris. Jesuit-educated, he began writing clever verses by the age of 12. He launched a lifelong, successful playwriting career in 1718, interrupted by imprisonment in the Bastille. Upon a second imprisonment, in which Francois adopted the pen name Voltaire, he was released after agreeing to move to London. There he wrote Lettres philosophiques (1733), which galvanized French reform. The book also satirized the religious teachings of Rene Descartes and Blaise Pascal, including Pascal's famed "wager" on God. Voltaire wrote: "The interest I have in believing a thing is not a proof of the existence of that thing." Voltaire's French publisher was sent to the Bastille and Voltaire had to escape from Paris again, as judges sentenced the book to be "torn and burned in the Palace." Voltaire spent a calm 16 years with his deistic mistress, Madame du Chatelet, in Lorraine. He met the 27 year old married mother when he was 39. In his memoirs, he wrote: "I found, in 1733, a young woman who thought as I did, and decided to spend several years in the country, cultivating her mind." He dedicated Traite de metaphysique to her. In it the Deist candidly rejected immortality and questioned belief in God. It was not published until the 1780s. Voltaire continued writing amusing but meaty philosophical plays and histories. After the earthquake that leveled Lisbon in 1755, in which 15,000 people perished and another 15,000 were wounded, Voltaire wrote Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne (Poem on the Lisbon Disaster): "But how conceive a God supremely good/ Who heaps his favours on the sons he loves,/ Yet scatters evil with as large a hand?"
Voltaire purchased a chateau in Geneva, where, among other works, he wrote Candide (1759). To avoid Calvinist persecution, Voltaire moved across the border to Ferney, where the wealthy writer lived for 18 years until his death. Voltaire began to openly challenge Christianity, calling it "the infamous thing." He wrote Frederick the Great: "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." Voltaire ended every letter to friends with "Ecrasez l'infame" (crush the infamy — the Christian religion). His pamphlet, The Sermon on the Fifty (1762) went after transubstantiation, miracles, biblical contradictions, the Jewish religion, and the Christian God. Voltaire wrote that a true god "surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece of dough," or inspired "books, filled with contradictions, madness, and horror." He also published excerpts of Testament of the Abbe Meslier, by an atheist priest, in Holland, which advanced the Enlightenment. Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary was published in 1764 without his name. Although the first edition immediately sold out, Geneva officials, followed by Dutch and Parisian, had the books burned. It was published in 1769 as two large volumes. Voltaire campaigned fiercely against civil atrocities in the name of religion, writing pamphlets and commentaries about the barbaric execution of a Huguenot trader, who was first broken at the wheel, then burned at the stake, in 1762. Voltaire's campaign for justice and restitution ended with a posthumous retrial in 1765, during which 40 Parisian judges declared the defendant innocent. Voltaire urgently tried to save the life of Chevalier de la Barre, a 19 year old sentenced to death for blasphemy for failing to remove his hat during a religious procession. In 1766, Chevalier was beheaded after being tortured, then his body was burned, along with a copy of Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. Voltaire's statue at the Pantheon was melted down during Nazi occupation. D. 1778.
Voltaire (1694-1778), pseudónimo de François-
In 1694, Age of Enlightenment leader Francois-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was born in Paris. Jesuit-educated, he began writing clever verses by the age of 12. He launched a lifelong, successful playwriting career in 1718, interrupted by imprisonment in the Bastille. Upon a second imprisonment, in which Francois adopted the pen name Voltaire, he was released after agreeing to move to London. There he wrote Lettres philosophiques (1733), which galvanized French reform. The book also satirized the religious teachings of Rene Descartes and Blaise Pascal, including Pascal's famed "wager" on God. Voltaire wrote: "The interest I have in believing a thing is not a proof of the existence of that thing." Voltaire's French publisher was sent to the Bastille and Voltaire had to escape from Paris again, as judges sentenced the book to be "torn and burned in the Palace." Voltaire spent a calm 16 years with his deistic mistress, Madame du Chatelet, in Lorraine. He met the 27 year old married mother when he was 39. In his memoirs, he wrote: "I found, in 1733, a young woman who thought as I did, and decided to spend several years in the country, cultivating her mind." He dedicated Traite de metaphysique to her. In it the Deist candidly rejected immortality and questioned belief in God. It was not published until the 1780s. Voltaire continued writing amusing but meaty philosophical plays and histories. After the earthquake that leveled Lisbon in 1755, in which 15,000 people perished and another 15,000 were wounded, Voltaire wrote Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne (Poem on the Lisbon Disaster): "But how conceive a God supremely good/ Who heaps his favours on the sons he loves,/ Yet scatters evil with as large a hand?"
Voltaire purchased a chateau in Geneva, where, among other works, he wrote Candide (1759). To avoid Calvinist persecution, Voltaire moved across the border to Ferney, where the wealthy writer lived for 18 years until his death. Voltaire began to openly challenge Christianity, calling it "the infamous thing." He wrote Frederick the Great: "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." Voltaire ended every letter to friends with "Ecrasez l'infame" (crush the infamy — the Christian religion). His pamphlet, The Sermon on the Fifty (1762) went after transubstantiation, miracles, biblical contradictions, the Jewish religion, and the Christian God. Voltaire wrote that a true god "surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece of dough," or inspired "books, filled with contradictions, madness, and horror." He also published excerpts of Testament of the Abbe Meslier, by an atheist priest, in Holland, which advanced the Enlightenment. Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary was published in 1764 without his name. Although the first edition immediately sold out, Geneva officials, followed by Dutch and Parisian, had the books burned. It was published in 1769 as two large volumes. Voltaire campaigned fiercely against civil atrocities in the name of religion, writing pamphlets and commentaries about the barbaric execution of a Huguenot trader, who was first broken at the wheel, then burned at the stake, in 1762. Voltaire's campaign for justice and restitution ended with a posthumous retrial in 1765, during which 40 Parisian judges declared the defendant innocent. Voltaire urgently tried to save the life of Chevalier de la Barre, a 19 year old sentenced to death for blasphemy for failing to remove his hat during a religious procession. In 1766, Chevalier was beheaded after being tortured, then his body was burned, along with a copy of Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. Voltaire's statue at the Pantheon was melted down during Nazi occupation. D. 1778.
Voltaire (1694-1778), pseudónimo de François-
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 19, 2017
original read: 2006
Micromégas, a giant exiled for trying to write scientific book examining the insects on his planet, travels the universe and befriends the secretary of the Academy of Saturn. They bond over their love of philosophy and examination of the natural world.
Eventually, they arrive on Earth, where they examine humans to determine whether they have any intelligence or spirit. The humans explain the philosophies of Aristotle, Descartes, Malebranche, Leibniz and Locke to the travelers, but they laugh at them and promise to write a book about the point of everything, but that is where the book ends.
This was an interesting re-read and apparently this story and Plato's Dream are seminal works of science fiction so I'll be reading Candide, Zadig and Selected Stories next.
Micromégas, a giant exiled for trying to write scientific book examining the insects on his planet, travels the universe and befriends the secretary of the Academy of Saturn. They bond over their love of philosophy and examination of the natural world.
Eventually, they arrive on Earth, where they examine humans to determine whether they have any intelligence or spirit. The humans explain the philosophies of Aristotle, Descartes, Malebranche, Leibniz and Locke to the travelers, but they laugh at them and promise to write a book about the point of everything, but that is where the book ends.
This was an interesting re-read and apparently this story and Plato's Dream are seminal works of science fiction so I'll be reading Candide, Zadig and Selected Stories next.
June 17, 2024
Published in 1752. An entertaining philosophical tale I would highly recommend only 10 pages.
July 24, 2016
A great work of imagination, about a giant being from the star Sirius who travels the Galaxy, learning about other cultures. He picks up a Saturnian along the way and they head to earth, where they are amazed that organisms as small as humans can possess intelligence and spirit.
It anticipates the way that Gulliver's Travels uses the Brobdignagians' giant size to represent their higher moral status. It also must have inspired Olaf Stapledon's "Last and First Men" in the way it hints at markedly more perfect social structures and relationships.
But for all that, it has the same annoying quality of all fiction that pre-dated the novel's invention. It is comprised of little more than a narrative voice of a super smart person who is pleased with his own cleverness.
It anticipates the way that Gulliver's Travels uses the Brobdignagians' giant size to represent their higher moral status. It also must have inspired Olaf Stapledon's "Last and First Men" in the way it hints at markedly more perfect social structures and relationships.
But for all that, it has the same annoying quality of all fiction that pre-dated the novel's invention. It is comprised of little more than a narrative voice of a super smart person who is pleased with his own cleverness.
August 13, 2023
micromégas. 30 minutes, maybe 35. read it.
giant alien from a planet revolving sirius meets a giant alien on saturn and then they come to earth and meet blue whales and think blue whales rule the world bc they cant see humans until they find a boat of philosophers and mathematicians and understand life, consciousness, spirit, and knowledge have no bounds small or big.
i love this story. similar to gullivars travels but sci fi, also one of the first works of sci fi evah :o
giant alien from a planet revolving sirius meets a giant alien on saturn and then they come to earth and meet blue whales and think blue whales rule the world bc they cant see humans until they find a boat of philosophers and mathematicians and understand life, consciousness, spirit, and knowledge have no bounds small or big.
i love this story. similar to gullivars travels but sci fi, also one of the first works of sci fi evah :o
January 22, 2015
Okay I don't really have much to say. The stories are sharp, cynical and funny, as Voltaire should be. Overall enjoyable with a couple of actually thought-provoking parts, though I didn't find any of the stories particularly remarkable.
May 27, 2022
Short, sweet and funny. Acid social criticism and skepticism from the 18th century master, still apposite today.
November 13, 2025
“I have seen mortals who are far inferior to us; I have seen others far superior, but I have never seen any who did not have more desires than real needs, and more needs than means to satisfy them.”
“I return home overwhelmed both by my own curiosity and my ignorance. I read our ancient books, and they only increase my darkness. I ask my companions; some reply that we must enjoy life and make a sport of mankind; others think they know something, and lose themselves in extravagant speculation. Everything increases the anguish I feel. I am ready sometimes to despair when I think that after all my seeking I neither know where I come from, nor where I am going, nor who I am, nor what I shall become.”
“‘What does it matter whether one has brains or not? Moreover, those who are happy in their existence are certain of their happiness, whereas those who reason are not certain that they reason well. It is clear, therefore,’ I continued, ‘that one must elect not to have common sense, however little common sense contributes to our discomfort.’ Everyone agreed, and yet I found nobody who was willing to accept the bargain of becoming an imbecile in exchange for happiness. From which I conclude that, if we attach importance to happiness, we attach even greater importance to reason.”
“I return home overwhelmed both by my own curiosity and my ignorance. I read our ancient books, and they only increase my darkness. I ask my companions; some reply that we must enjoy life and make a sport of mankind; others think they know something, and lose themselves in extravagant speculation. Everything increases the anguish I feel. I am ready sometimes to despair when I think that after all my seeking I neither know where I come from, nor where I am going, nor who I am, nor what I shall become.”
“‘What does it matter whether one has brains or not? Moreover, those who are happy in their existence are certain of their happiness, whereas those who reason are not certain that they reason well. It is clear, therefore,’ I continued, ‘that one must elect not to have common sense, however little common sense contributes to our discomfort.’ Everyone agreed, and yet I found nobody who was willing to accept the bargain of becoming an imbecile in exchange for happiness. From which I conclude that, if we attach importance to happiness, we attach even greater importance to reason.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2023
un cuento con un toque de ciencia ficcion, muy moderno para la epoca, me gusto, sencillo, pero mejor que los discursos de voltaire.
May 7, 2017
After reading and LOVING the first two Terra Ignota novels by Ada Palmer, which are far future SF heavily inspired by and written in the style of an enlightenment novel I decided to actually pick up some Voltaire and, despite initially feeling a little intimidated, I rather enjoyed it. I found it very readable and was pleasantly surprised by Voltaire’s accurate social commentaries and witty sarcastic humor.
The title story is one of the earliest examples of what could be called Science Fiction and is about a being from a far distant planet who is several kilometers tall, who travels the universe and, when arriving on Earth. encounters a group of scientists and philosophers. I very much enjoyed this story and it’s observations of people. It was also interesting in the context of Ada Palmer’s work; seeing what had influenced it and the significance of one of its characters being refereed to as “Micromegas”.
As with all short story collections I enjoyed some more than others. A couple that I really enjoyed were “The Way of the World” and “Wives, Submit Yourselves unto You Own Husbands.” It also reminded me not to feel so intimidated by anything that is refereed to as a classic. Many of these books are readable and enjoyable even without a degree in literature.
The title story is one of the earliest examples of what could be called Science Fiction and is about a being from a far distant planet who is several kilometers tall, who travels the universe and, when arriving on Earth. encounters a group of scientists and philosophers. I very much enjoyed this story and it’s observations of people. It was also interesting in the context of Ada Palmer’s work; seeing what had influenced it and the significance of one of its characters being refereed to as “Micromegas”.
As with all short story collections I enjoyed some more than others. A couple that I really enjoyed were “The Way of the World” and “Wives, Submit Yourselves unto You Own Husbands.” It also reminded me not to feel so intimidated by anything that is refereed to as a classic. Many of these books are readable and enjoyable even without a degree in literature.
March 6, 2019
It is astonishing, at the very least, how Voltaire spiked through philosophical matters that even today seem to be rather out of societal bounds. No wonder he was exiled in multiple occasions for his libellous writing and enlightening perception.
Overall, Voltaire's tale-telling, so called conte, dealt with and addressed quite disarmingly philosophical questions that remain contemporary and most probably unanswered even today, which include, yet not limited to, religious affairs, friendship, marital loyalty and the overall nature of humankind.
In the longest conte included in this book, Micromegas that is, two alien creatures visit Earth and discuss how small this planet and its habitats are, not necessarily in size, addressing the human vanity. The present book is composed of additional short stories, which again in the most simple yet effective manner speak right to the point and can clearly raise concerns to the open-minded.
The paperback edition is quite soft and small which makes it ideal for a commuting companion!
Overall, Voltaire's tale-telling, so called conte, dealt with and addressed quite disarmingly philosophical questions that remain contemporary and most probably unanswered even today, which include, yet not limited to, religious affairs, friendship, marital loyalty and the overall nature of humankind.
In the longest conte included in this book, Micromegas that is, two alien creatures visit Earth and discuss how small this planet and its habitats are, not necessarily in size, addressing the human vanity. The present book is composed of additional short stories, which again in the most simple yet effective manner speak right to the point and can clearly raise concerns to the open-minded.
The paperback edition is quite soft and small which makes it ideal for a commuting companion!
February 13, 2018
A couple of good moral or ethic stories which are supposed to teach you a lesson, but in Voltaire's funny and unique way often they just end in a totally un-climactic way without a solution to the problems presented in the story.
I don't know if this was good or bad, but I think the point was that Voltaire presented issues and discussions that philosophers deal with and made them presentable to the general public.
The story of Micromegas itself (not the only story in the book) was definitely my favorite. Sci-Fi from the 18th century is rare and it was fun to see what Voltaire could do in the sci-fi genre.
My only real gripe was that some of the stories felt like they had been printed from the same mold of Candide and didn't really change much to make it interesting or different from Candide. I am not well educated on the timeline of when Voltaire released these stories, so its definitely possible that he released these stories before releasing Candide.
I don't know if this was good or bad, but I think the point was that Voltaire presented issues and discussions that philosophers deal with and made them presentable to the general public.
The story of Micromegas itself (not the only story in the book) was definitely my favorite. Sci-Fi from the 18th century is rare and it was fun to see what Voltaire could do in the sci-fi genre.
My only real gripe was that some of the stories felt like they had been printed from the same mold of Candide and didn't really change much to make it interesting or different from Candide. I am not well educated on the timeline of when Voltaire released these stories, so its definitely possible that he released these stories before releasing Candide.
August 5, 2021
As with Candide, once again curiosity got the better of me. The two stories that stand out from this collection to me are the titular Micromegas, an early sci-fi tale that fascinated me because of the combination of speculative elements and 18th century literary conventions (making it very different to modern sci-fi!), and Women Submit Yourselves Unto Your Husbands, which is shockingly feminist for the standards of the era. The rest contains the usual themes, religious intolerance, satire of 18th century French society, and so on. Overall, a very interesting, often amusing, and very readable collection.
June 24, 2021
These stories posed a number of interesting questions concerning societal standards, the morality of affairs, the role of high ranking officials both in the government and in church, as well as questioning everything we see as innate knowledge and questioning what we’ve been told our whole lives.
Voltaire’s critiques on the rich, organized religion, and government officials are still relevant 250+ years later!
Voltaire’s critiques on the rich, organized religion, and government officials are still relevant 250+ years later!
November 8, 2024
J’ai toujours été fasciné par la pluralité, la richesse et la singularité des mondes qui existent dans un même ensemble.
J’ai beaucoup apprécié ma relecture de Micromegas 🚲
2 étoiles c’est bien, sous le bon angle….
J’ai beaucoup apprécié ma relecture de Micromegas 🚲
2 étoiles c’est bien, sous le bon angle….
June 8, 2018
Extraordinarily witty and completely apposite for today's world.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews