An example of an analogy used in science writing:
"Prof. Asa Gray, after examining several American species of Cypripedium, wrote to me…that he was convinced that I was in error, and that the flowers are fertilized by small insects entering the labellum through the large opening on the upper surface, and crawling out by one of the two small orifices close to either anther and the stigma. Accordingly I caught a very small bee which seemed of about the right size, namely the Andrena parvula (and this by a strange chance proved, as we shall presently see, to be the right genus), and placed it in the labellum through the upper large opening. The bee vainly endeavoured to crawl out again the same way, but always fell backwards, owing to the margins being inflected. The labellum thus acts like one of those conical traps with the edges turned inwards, which are sold to catch beetles and cockroaches in the London kitchens."
Charles Darwin (1869) The Fertilization of Orchids, Annals and Magazine of Natural History, including Zoology, Botany, and Geology, 4th Series.
Presumably, at the time he was writing, Darwin was able to assume that most readers would be familiar with the design of traps he refers to, so it acts as a suitable analogue for explaining the plant's anatomy.
Read examples of scientific analogies
Many examples of science analogies are listed in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.
