One of the forms of political satire is embodied in the first culture that is met by Gulliver. The Lilliputians are the embodiment of England of the time period. The Lilliputians are small people who control Gulliver through means of threats. "...when in an instant I felt above a hundred arrows discharged into my left hand, which pricked my like so many needles; and besides they shot another flight into the air, as we do bombs in Europe" (Swift, 24). England was a small country that had Europe (represented by Gulliver) and many other parts of the world under their control. This example of comparing the political situation in Europe at the time to the story is further demonstrated by using Gulliver against the Blefescan nation, much like a European nation would use a political ally. Another way that Swift uses satire against the society of the time is through the medium of science. During the Reformation period, people were beginning to questions superstitions and theories by using science to explain things. The most famous of these explanations was when Halley discovered that a comet (later named for him) made a predictable orbit around the sun. During the voyage to Laputa, Gulliver commends the Laputians on their study of comets, even saying that "...it is much to be wished that their observations were made public, whereby the theory of comets, which at present is very lame and defective, might be brought to the same perfection with other parts of astronomy."(Swift, 190) But then, on his voyage to Lagodo, he emphasizes on the multiple scientists engaging in trivial experiments such as trying to extract sunlight from a cucumber. By this passage, Swift means to attach the scientific community's need to analyze everything, as they did at that time, mainly to prove superstitions (and religious worries) wrong. All of these examples help to prove that Gulliver's Travels was written during the time period in which it was set.