An example of anthropomorphism in science writing:
"…in Habenaria the stigmatic surface lies beneath and between the two widely separated anther-cells, and the pollinia here again move downwards, but, at the same time, converge. A poet might imagine, that whilst the pollinia are borne from flower to flower through the air, adhering to a moth's body, they voluntarily and eagerly place themselves, in each case, in that exact position in which alone they can hope to gain their wish and perpetuate their race."
Charles Darwin (1862) On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing. London: John Murray
Pollen grains do not have wishes and hopes, and are not eagerly arranging themselves deliberately to advance their reproduction – and Darwin prefaces this figurative language by warning his readership he is writing here as if a poet.
Read examples of anthropomorphism in science
