The character created by Francis Godwin, Domingo Gonsales, on his way to the Moon in a flying machine powered by 25 ???ansas?? a fanciful species of wild swans. On arrival, Gonsales found that the Moon is inhabited by a race of peaceful giants. This fantasy voyage, written by the English cleric, Francis Godwin (1562 ??1633), Bishop of Llandaff and Hereford, was published posthumously under the pseudonym of Domingo Gonsales in 1638 under the title ???he Man in the Moone?? A very early example of science fiction, Godwin based aspects of his science on the current controversial and advanced ideas such as the Copernican theory of the solar system, the rotation of the earth and the existence of a gravitational force. It is suggested that this book influenced John Wilkins, Bishop of Chester, and Cyrano de Bergerac, both writers of life on the moon.