she has confirmed Mercury's variety by an unchanging order

An example of personification in scientific writing:

"And so in the case of this planet [Mercury] nature has sported a wonderful variety, but one which she has confirmed by a perpetual, certain, and unchanging order."

Nicolaus Copernicus (1543/1995) On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (Translator: Charles Glenn Wallis) Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books

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Author: Keith

Former school and college science teacher, teacher educator, research supervisor, and research methods lecturer. Emeritus Professor of Science Education at the University of Cambridge.