An example of personification (of the Moon, or Moone) in historical science writing
"…by the contemplation of the Diurnall revolutions of the heavens the first Astronomers might find, that the Moone was swifter than any of the other planets…they came to ye knowledge of of the periods of her revolutions…
…the first inventors or improvers of Astronomy…might frequently observe ye moone riseing neare bright stars…when shee was neare her full, & visible above ye earth neare 12 houres sometimes more. considering therefore how motion towards the star or form it betwixt ye time of her rise & setting they found it to appeare considerably lesse then [sic] what it ought to be compared with her remove for it when shee arose next Night, considering further that her motion was swifter than any of ye other planets they conceaved [sic] shee might be nearest the earth of any this caused them to thinke of Contrivances for measuring the arches she dayly moved. … observeing the distance of the moone in antecedence from some of the aforementioned fixed stars they found that if it were about 4 degrees or betwext 4 and 5 in her riseing she scarce ever passed beyond the star but onely reached or covered it by that shee came to set. but attending her riseing the next night they might find that her distances from ye said star that her diurnall motion was treble to what they had observed in 12 houres of ye night before…so often as they thus considered her, that the arches of her Motion about the earth were larger then the spaces she ran over under it they began to argue further…
"…tis found that the difference betwixt the apparent Dichotomy and Quardratiure is scarce more than halfe an hour and yet at the time when the Moone appeares halfe illuminated in ye Telescope shee seemes wanting and hollow to ye bare eye. even after the time of the true Quardrature by reason of the Naturall weaknessse of our unassisted sight & that fewer raises of light are reflected from the middle of the Moone then [sic] from her illustrated limbe, which observeing the times of ye Quadratures I have frequently noted my selfe…""
John Flamsteed (1975) Lecture 1, Wednesday, 27 April 1681, in The Gresham Lectures of John Flamsteed (Editor: Eric G. Forbes), London: Mansell Information Publishing Ltd.
Read about personification in science texts
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Many examples of personification are included in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.
