A topic in public science
A metaphor is a figure of speech where one thing is said to be another – as an implicit way of suggesting a comparison. (It is implicit, as the person hearing/reading the metaphor is expected to realise that the statement is not meant literally, but poetically.)
Read about metaphors in science
A simple metaphor is just a word or phrase used figuratively, but sometimes the metaphor is extended to several related words/phrases. (Some examples of extended metaphor are indicated *)
Most of these examples are metaphors for scientific concepts – but sometimes referents from science and technology are used as metaphors (indicated ☜ – or ⟺ if both target and metaphor are scientific notions).
Examples of science metaphors:
The original quotes have been paraphrased or edited for brevity below – the links will lead to the full quotation and source. (Click on the link for a preview; then click on 'term details' to proceed to the detail.)
Examples of idioms used in explaining science can be found here. These are expressions used metaphorically, but which through regular use have become part of the language ('chalk and cheese', 'went South').
alchemy
- alchemy was intellectual wandering (Sir John F. W. Herschel)
- alchemy only offered a doubtful spark (Sir John F. W. Herschel)
anatomy
- amphidops have a Swiss army knife of legs ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- blood-brain barrier is a Great Wall of China ('Finding Sanity: John Cade, lithium and the taming of bipolar disorder')
- the skeleton is a framework of the most curious carpentry (Sir John F. W. Herschel)
astronomy
- astronomy is a four-legged animal ('The Comet is Coming! The feverish legacy of Mr Halley') *
- astronomy limps and lurches and sometimes gallops ('The Comet is Coming! The feverish legacy of Mr Halley') *
- Betelgeuse is bloated (Gizmodo)
- Betelgeuse is ringing at a changed frequency (Dr Andrea Dupree, Harvard & Smithsonian)
- black hole is the ultimate waste disposal unit (BBC Inside Science)
- black hole might be eating solar wind (Dr Kareem El-Badry, astrophysicist at Harvard University / Caltech)
- black holes in merged galaxies sink (Nature Podcast)
- celestial mechanicians are priests of the gravitational faith ('The Comet is Coming! The feverish legacy of Mr Halley')
- chemical elements are formed in the murder of neutron stars (Prof. Mike Edmunds, Cardiff University)
- clockwork universe is expendable (Wolfgang Smith)
- comet particles excavate burrows in sampling aerogel ('Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system')
- comets admit travelling for millions years when interrogated ('The Comet is Coming! The feverish legacy of Mr Halley')
- comets can lose their return tickets ('The Comet is Coming! The feverish legacy of Mr Halley')
- comets grow up ('Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system')
- comets journey to the altar of the Sun ('The Comet is Coming! The feverish legacy of Mr Halley')
- comets may be evicted from the solar system ('The Comet is Coming! The feverish legacy of Mr Halley')
- comets may be exiled from the Sun ('The Comet is Coming! The feverish legacy of Mr Halley')
- comets show devotion to the gravitational faith ('The Comet is Coming! The feverish legacy of Mr Halley')
- convulsions occur in stars walking their last mile (George Gamow)
- death throes of a star are observable for only a few years * (Kip Thorne)
- Enceladus receives a vigorous massage ('Dutch Light: Christiaan Huygens and the making of science in Europe')
- event horizon is a one-way door ('Einstein's Fridge. The science of fire, ice and the universe')
- gamma-ray burst is due to feeding a black hole at a high rate (Prof. Brian Metzger, Columbia University)
- material forming the planets was in heavy traffic (George Gamow)
- meteors give birth to craters (Hubert Krivine)
- most galaxies harbour black holes in their hearts (Nature podcast)
- nebulae float in cosmic space (George Gamow)
- neutron star resides in stellar graveyard (Dr Manisha Caleb, University of Sydney)
- pairs of supermassive black holes hum (Nature podcast)
- planetary systems soak up angular momentum ('Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe')
- Ptolemy's starry sphere was a cosmic jewel box (Edward Rosen)
- Saturn is haloed ('Dutch Light: Christiaan Huygens and the making of science in Europe')
- Saturn may have devoured his children (Galileo Galilei)
- some comets are pilgrims ('The Comet is Coming! The feverish legacy of Mr Halley')
- some planets are marauding (Physics World)
- some pulsars spew out radio waves (Nature podcast)
- stars burp (Chemistry World)
- stars may have retinues of planets ('Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe')
- sun reigns over family of planets (George Gamow)
- supernova is the death-agony of a star (Sir Patrick Moore)
- the Earth and Sun produce offspring each year * (Nicolaus Copernicus)
- there's a whole zoo of different stars ('Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe')
atomic structure
- atomic model had baroque combination of components (Dr Michel Bitbol, CNRS/École Normale Supérieure, Paris)
- atoms contain a swarm of electrons (George Gamow)
- building stones of atoms were discovered (Neils Bohr)
- electrons are common building stones of all atoms (Neils Bohr)
- molecular energy gaps can be tuned across a huge window (Prof. Michael Haley, University of Oregon)
- protons are attracted by an electronic fur coat (paper published in predatory journal)
- Thomson dissected the delicate body of the atom * (George Gamow)
- within the outer atomic shells the magic number is eight ('Explaining Humans: What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
atoms and molecules
- an atom engages in an internal tug of war ('Explaining Humans. What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
- atom in a solid collects its fellows around it (Alan Holden)
- atoms are the bricks of the physical environment ('The Quantum Astrologer's Handbook')
- carbohydrate molecules are chemical springs ('Einstein's Fridge: The science of fire, ice and the universe')
- energy levels are atomic fingerprints ('Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe')
- functional groups find the right partners (Prof. Carolyn R. Bertozzi)
- ionic bonds are stronger than their covalent cousins ('Explaining Humans: What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
- ions are formed when electrons are traded ('Explaining Humans: What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
- life is a choreographed dance of quanticles ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
- molecules can be tailored for applications (Prof. Michael Haley, University of Oregon)
- some antiaromatic molecules have been tamed (Chemistry World)
- spectral lines are atomic signatures ('Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe')
- the carbon skeleton of an organic molecule clothes itself (Alan Holden)
biochemistry
- lipids have split personalities ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
- ribosomes are molecular workbenches ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
cells
- cells are cities buzzing with activity (Dr Adam Rutherford)
- cells shake hands ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- gametes are the marrying cells (George Gamow)
- germline cells are fresh and unexhausted (George Gamow)
- human cells are surrounded by their close friends and partners (Chemistry World)
- inserting a protein into matched molecules opens the door of blood cells ('Almost Like a Whale. The origin of species updated')
- neurones reach out to form bridges ('The Drugs That Changed Our Minds')
- PPAR-𝜸's promiscuous pocket is vulnerable to hacking (Chemistry World)
- red blood cells have a best before date ('Immune. How your body defends and protects you')
- the cells of the innate immune system are usually the first responder cells (Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee, Columbia University)
- T cells become tired and exhausted (Nature podcast)
- T cells sniff other cells (Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee, Columbia University)
- the telomere guards the D.N.A. ('Explaining Humans: What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
chance
chemical adsorption
chemical substances
- antiaromaticity is aromaticity's dark alter-ego (Chemistry World)
- benzene has a hexagonal garment (H. E. Armstrong)
- grammarian systematisation is full of enantiomorphism (Benjamin Lee Whorf) ☜
- graphene's whizzy electrons grind to a halt (Chemistry World)
- lithium chloride melts before your eyes ('Finding Sanity.: John Cade, lithium and the taming of bipolar disorder')
- lithium was born at the start of the universe ('Finding Sanity.: John Cade, lithium and the taming of bipolar disorder')
- PVC is a close relative of polyethylene ('Serendipity. Accidental discoveries in science')
- skin gradually forms on molten lead and tin (H. E. Armstrong, chemist and educational reformer)
- substances can be chemical relatives ('Serendipity. Accidental discoveries in science')
chemical reactions
- absolute tonnes of nitrosamines are generated in your stomach (Chemistry World)
- acids eats up metal (Wolfgang Smith – 'Ancient Wisdom and Modern Misconceptions')
- aromaticity pays for making something unstable (Dr Igor Alabugin, Florida State University)
- bioorthogonal chemistry is a cousin of click chemistry (Prof. Carolyn R. Bertozzi)
- chlorophyll molecules unburn water ('Einstein's Fridge: The science of fire, ice and the universe')
- electrocyclisation is a cousin of cycloaddition (Chemistry World)
- electrons dance around a cyclic transition state during electrocyclisation (Chemistry World)
- functional groups find the right partners (Prof. Carolyn R. Bertozzi)
- mathematician plays the role of a litmus test for a definition (Dr Slava Gerovitch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) ☜
- molecule spits out fluorine atom (Chemistry World)
- oxygen jumps onto hydrogen and carbon ('Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe')
- reaction stopped by base-eating cannibals ('Chemistry World')
cognition and the brain
- the mind is operated by springs (David Hume)
- memories get uploaded to long-term storage ('The Drugs That Changed Our Minds')
- memories hide in the hippocampus ('The Drugs That Changed Our Minds')
data and information
- information technology is the twist in the Möbius strip ('Memory Practices in the Sciences')
- observations are trimmed with theoretical shears (Mario Bunge)
- raw data need to be pruned (Mario Bunge)
- raw data should be carefully cooked (Geoffrey C. Bowker)
developmental biology
- embryology is at an embryonic stage (Einstein's Fridge: The science of fire, ice and the universe)
disease and the immune system
- amyloid muffles memories ('The Drugs That Changed Our Mind')
- antiviral drug prevents the virus from igniting a fire (Dr Daria Hazuda, Merck Research Labs)
- brain in Alzheimer's disease is stuffed with a deadly jam ('The Drugs That Changed Our Mind')
- Ebola blocks the cell's emergency fast lane ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- fire continues to burn after virus stops replicating (Dr Daria Hazuda, Merck Research Labs)
- illness is like falling into the doldrums (Jean-Antoine Villemin)
- immune system is a standing army (Chemistry World)
- immunoglobulin A disables docking stations ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- macrophage is anthrax's cellular carriage ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- microbiome is part of the immune engine room (Dr James Kinross, Imperial College London)
- monoclonal antibody is haute couture immunotherapy ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- monoclonal antibody paints a bullseye on cell surface ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- people expect infectious diseases to be stamped out ('The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the quest to cure tuberculosis')
- protective antigen is a muscled henchman ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- syphilis is a daughter of leprosy * (Friedrich Alexander Simon)
- tuberculosis, glanders and syphilis are cousins * (Jean-Antoine Villemin)
ecology and conservation
- invasive species are incredible hitchhikers (Professor Helen Roy, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)
- mollusc was the king of nature billions of years ago (George Gamow)
- personalised vaccine unmasks and flags cancer cells (BBC News)
- phytoplankton and faecal pellets rain down through the ocean (Prof. Carol Robinson, University of East Anglia)
- water hyacinths are choking Lake Victoria (BBC Inside Science)
- water voles are part of the jigsaw puzzle (BBC Inside Science)
- water voles are the missing Mars bar of the food chain (Dr Ashley Lyons, RSPB)
- we call plankton particles marine snow * (Prof. Carol Robinson, University of East Anglia)
electricity
electromagnetic radiation
- electrical and magnetic components of photon engage in an elegant dance ('Light Years: The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light')
- photon has a life cycle with birth and death ('Light Years: The extraordinary story of mankind' fascination with light')
energy
enzymes
- enzymes meet and capture substrates ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
- granzymes eat proteins ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
ethology – behaviour
evolution and natural selection
- molecular clock is used to calculate the antiquity of diverse species ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA') 🏴☠️
- the theory of natural selection was carefully built stone by stone (Ernst Cassirer)
- Welsh quary offers window on Ordovician (Dr Joe Botting, Museum Wales)
fossils
forces
- as nuclei get larger electromagnetism begins to win the battle with the strong force * (Chemistry World)
- tug of war between the strong nuclear force and electromagnetism * (Chemistry World)
genetics
- corners of the human genome are on steroids with tandem repeats (Dr Karen Miga, University of California, Santa Cruz)
- D.N.A. in gametes is epigenetically naked (Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith)
- epigenetic slate is wiped clean (Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith)
- gene is a hereditary charm bracelet (George Gamow)
- genes are better or worse timekeepers (Geoffrey C. Bowker)
- genes unite into colonies (Geoge Gamow)
- genome contains fossil viruses ('Some Assembly Required. Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- jumping genes are parasites ('Some Assembly Required. Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- mutated proteins can be rogue (BBC News)
- stem cells given a kick (Professor Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, University of Cambridge / California Institute of Technology)
geography
- islands are bathed by the oceans (Alfred Russel Wallace)
- seasonal river siphons populations (Prof. John Kappelman, University of Texas)
geology – the earth
- discovery of radioactive heat was a battering ram (Hubert Krivine)
- Earth has a blanket of air (Sir Patrick Moore)
- meteors give birth to craters (Hubert Krivine)
- volcanoes are the breath-pipes of Nature (Athanasius Kircher)
heat and thermodynamics
- cold air battles steam * (Johannes Kepler)
- heat is sucked out of the piston cylinder in an engine ('Einstein's Fridge: The science of fire, ice and the universe')
- refrigerator sucks work from the sink ('Einstein's Fridge: The science of fire, ice and the universe')
- second law of thermodynamics is a terroristic nimbus cloud (Josef Loschmidt)
life and biodiversity
- islands are populated by flotsam and jetsam (Alfred Russel Wallace)
- land vertebrates are a small branch of the tree of life ('Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe')
magnetism
- electromagnets suck up huge currents (BBC Science in Action)
- magnetic attraction is coition (Robert Fludd)
- the magnetic field is a sphere of coition (William Gilbert)
materials
- crystal can be embryonic (Prof. B. J. Mason)
- laser beam swallowed up by swallowed up Bose-Einstein condensate ('Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light')
- lasers knocked atoms up ('Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light')
- light beam can claw its way through a Bose-Einstein condensate ('Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light')
- Protestantism had an elasticity ☜ (Herbert Butterfield)
- solid matter is a magnificent building (George Gamow)
- the loadstone and iron are twins (William Gilbert)
- vortices in a Bose-Einstein condensate are frigid whirlpools ('Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light')
mathematical methods and tools
- it was necessary to strip Newtonian methods of every vestige of that antique dress in which he had delighted to clothe them (Sir John Frederick William Herschel)
- imaginary numbers are amphibians (Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz)
- inference uses forceps (Mario Bunge)
- labels for types of numbers are fossils (Mario Bunge)
- logic and mathematics are fibres in the body of science (Mario Bunge)
- logic and mathematics are the cement that binds scientific concepts (Mario Bunge)
- the partial differential equation is the mistress of theoretical physics (Albert Einstein)
medicine
- at maximum dose lithium fills the body ('Finding Sanity: John Cade, lithium and the taming of bipolar disorder')
- brain prodded by injection into bloodstream ('Finding Sanity: John Cade, lithium and the taming of bipolar disorder')
- incomplete courses of antibiotics set up antibiotic assault courses ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- mental illness is like getting into a rut (Dr Robin Carhart-Harris, University of California)
- mental illnesses result from an abnormal periodic table of the brain ('Finding Sanity: John Cade, lithium and the taming of bipolar disorder') ⟺
- Rorschach test is a fluoroscope into the psyche ('The Inkblots: Hermann Rorschach, his iconic test and the power of seeing') ☜
- unnecessary antibiotics provide a perfect training ground for bacterial resistance ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
microbes
- AIDS virus hides in a cloak of cell membrane ('Almost Like a Whale. The origin of species updated')
- bacteria are in an arms race with viruses ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- bacteria create metabolic pathways that bypass the antibiotic's roadblock ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- bacteria develop antibiotic bilge pumps ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- bacteria use a molecular scalpel ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- bacteriophages have a protein coat as a protective jacket (Prof. James Ebdon, University of Brighton)
- Ebola is a titan among viruses ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- flu virus hitches a ride (Nature)
- gut microbes have a cleaning team that work the night shift * (Prof. Tim Spector, King's College London)
- lawn of bacteria (Tom Ireland, Royal Society of Biology)
- microbes break down food with a arsenal of chemicals (Prof. Tim Spector, King's College London)
- microbiome is part of the immune engine room (Dr James Kinross, Imperial College London)
- microbiome speaks many molecular languages (Dr James Kinross, Imperial College London)
- planidrome-space system is a bacterial weapon ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- pollution can ferry influenza (Nature Podcast)
- Thiomargarita magnifica is Godzilla of the microbial world (BBC Science in Action)
- viruses jig around (Prof. Sally Bloomfield, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
nature
- nature has a fecund womb (Athanasius Kircher)
- nature has great laboratories (Sir John F. W. Herschel)
- nature is a pregnant mine (Sir John F. W. Herschel)
nature of science
- air of paradox should be thin in science (Mario Bunge)
- causality is a signpost showing the direction for scientific research (Max Planck)
- clockwork universe is expendible (Wolfgang Smith)
- deduction takes place in the bosom of scientific theories (Mario Bunge)
- explanation consummates the marriage of reason and experience (Mario Bunge)
- lawfulness is the carrot that keeps science going (Mario Bunge)
- philosophy is part of the scaffolding employed in constructing scientific buildings (Mario Bunge)
- principles are fixed compass points * (Ernst Cassirer)
- roots of science feed the soil (Max Planck)
- science is a great building (Albert Einstein)
- science provides nourishment for reasoning beings (David Hume)
- the foundations of the edifice of science need contuual renewal (Ernst Cassirer)
- the Nobel prize is awarded to the fathers not the baptisers of remarkable ideas (Mario Bunge)
- the path to knowledge must be made smooth and beaten and often ascended and descended (Sir John F. W. Herschel)
- the principle of lawfulness is a motor of knowledge (Mario Bunge)
- the search for law is the marrow of scientific research (Mario Bunge)
- theoretical simplifications should not be brutal amputations (Mario Bunge)
- to kill the principle of lawfulness would be worse than killing the golden egg hen (Mario Bunge)
- treasures are concealed beneath Nature's unbroken soil (Sir John F. W. Herschel)
nuclear physics
- electromagnetics acts to blow the nucleus apart * (Chemistry World)
- nuclear physics is modern alchemy (Neils Bohr)
- nuclear power was a pariah (Physics World)
- nuclear power was beset by a cultural hysteresis ☜ (Physics World)
- strong nuclear force battles electromagnetism * (Chemistry World)
- U-238 nuclei kidnap neutrons (George Gamow)
physics
- representationalism is a disease infecting physicists (Dr Jan Faye, University of Copenhagen)
physiology
- digestive system is a chemical factory (Ivan Pavlov)
- liver is the chemical factory (Prof. Ian Gilmore, University of Liverpool)
- motor impulses may be arranged into melodies (Jakob von Uexküll)
- nerves can speak loudly or stop talking (Dr Jocelyne Bloch, Université de Lausanne)
- neurotransmitters carry messages within the brain (BBC's 'Is Psychiatry working?')
- nervous system is a puppet-master (Dr Deepak Ravindran, Royal Berkshire Hospital)
- surgery can send the nervous system into tail spin (Dr Deepak Ravindran, Royal Berkshire Hospital)
- tidy gut is a well oiled machine (Prof. Tim Spector, King's College London)
- urea and uric acid are metabolic halfway houses ('Finding Sanity: John Cade, lithium and the taming of bipolar disorder')
plants
- flowers are nature's gentlest children (Hermann Weyl)
- leaf canopy captures sunshine (Jakob von Uexküll)
- moths perform as marriage-priests (Charles Darwin)
protein
- perforin behaves like a Trojan horse ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you.')
- protein checkpoints put the brakes on (Nature podcast)
- protein key opens the door to the interior of blood cells ('Almost Like a Whale: The origin of species updated')
quantum theory
- dark clouds threatened physics (Lord Kelvin)
- matter waves leak from the atomic nucleus (Neils Bohr)
- particle tunnels through a hill (Prof. Slobodan Perović)
- quantum world is seen through classical glasses (Prof. Klaas Landsman, Radboud University.)
- split between classical and quantum is shifty (Prof. N. David Mermin, Cornell University)
radioactivity
- atomic nuclei can swallow; become engorged; and spew (Professor Alan Lightman)
- cloud chamber track is a footprint (Prof. Slobodan Perović)
relativity
- all reference-molluscs are equally valid (Albert Einstein)
- dark clouds threatened physics (Lord Kelvin)
scientific laws
scientific method
- a scientist sends forth groping feelers of thoughts (Max Planck)
- ad hoc hypotheses are a gang of crooks (Mario Bunge)
- an experiment is a torch (Mario Bunge)
- facts are illiterate (Mario Bunge)
scientists
- Newton was a detective (Norwood Russell Hanson)
- Roger Bacon shone out like an early star (Sir John Frederick William Herschel)
- scientists quench their thirst for knowledge at a fountain (Max Planck)
space-time
viruses
- virus has a cloak of cell membrane ('Almost Like a Whale: The origin of species updated')
waves
- a high-frequency wave has a low-frequency cousin ('Explaining Humans: What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
Some further examples of science metaphors
Black holes have to lose their 'hair'
Cells are cities buzzing with activity
Cells are fantastical living machines
Cells of the innate immune system are the first responder cells
Corners of our genome that are 'on steriods'
Dutch physicist H.A. Lorentz was Einstein's John the Baptist
Fossil turbulence and fossil galaxy groups
Lodestones (magnetic stones) feed on iron
Matter is fed into black holes
T cells are door to door wanderers that can detect even the whiff of an invader
The brain's ability to naturally produce dopamine gets fried
Was the stellar burp really a sneeze? Pulling back the veil on an astronomical metaphor
From this website
In the kind of research known as case study, we examine cases that may be considered to (metaphorically) be organisms in the way the case is entangled within a context.
Note on analogies, similes and metaphors.
In practice the precise demarcations between similes, metaphors (and anthropomorphisms) and analogies may not be absolutely clear. I have tried to follow the rule that if a comparison is set out to make a structural mapping clear (even if this is not spelt out as a mapping: e.g., an atom with its electrons is like a sun with its planets) this counts as an analogy. Where I do not think a comparison is an analogy, but the comparison is made explicit ("…as if…", "…like…": e.g., the atom, like a tiny solar system) I consider this a simile. When the audience is left to spot a comparison (rather than a literal identity) is being made (e.g., the oxygen atom, this tiny solar system) I class this a metaphor.
Anthropomorphism may be seen as a particular kind of metaphor where a metaphorical feature implies a non-human entity has human attributes (e.g., meteors can be impetuous).
I reserve the right to reassign some of these comparisons in due course!
