An example of metaphor used to discredit a scientific theory (the idea that the species found on isolated islands had arived by chance from continents separated by sea):
"It has been objected to Mr Darwin's theory – of Oceanic Islands having never been connected with the mainland – that this would imply that their animal population was a matter of chance; it has been termed the 'flotsam and jetsam theory', and it has been maintained that nature does not work by the chapter of accidents. But in the case which I have here described, we have the most positive evidence that such has been the mode of peopling the islands."
Alfred Russel Wallace
Wallace, A. R. (1869). Malay Archipelago
Read about metaphor in science
Read about examples of science metaphors
Many examples of science metaphors are listed in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.
