telescopes always show him more than half illuminated

Categories: Personification

An example of personification in science writing

"…on the contrary the planet Mars by reason his orb lies without the orbit of the earth ought always to appear more then half illuminate by reason the earth however posited from him sees more than one half of his illuminated hemisphere and so it really is for the telescopes always show him more than half illuminated."[spellings modernised]

John Flamsteed (1975) Lecture 23, 31 January 1682/3 in The Gresham Lectures of John Flamsteed (Editor: Eric G. Forbes), London: Mansell Information Publishing Ltd.

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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.

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.