Simile
A simile is a figure of speech where one thing is said to be 'like' / 'as' another – as an explicit way of suggesting a comparison. In assinging science comparisons as similies. I have taken authors' uses of scare-quotes (e.g., the nucleus is the 'brain' of the cell) as well as terms like 'as', 'like', 'sort of', 'kind of' to be indicators that a comparison is being made and language is being use figuratively.
Read about similes in science discourse
Examples of similes for scientific concepts
The orignal sources below are often paraphrased or edited for brevity – the links will lead to the full quotation and source. (The indicator of figurative language such as 'like', 'as', 'kind of' may be omitted in the 'headline' versions listed here.)
Most of these examples are similes for scientific concepts – but sometimes referents from science and technology are used as similes (indicated ☜).
astronomy
- a light beam just kind of gets sucked into a black hole (Prof. Andrew Pontzen, UCL)
- Betelgeuse is like an imbalanced washing machine (NASA)
- black holes in merged galaxies sink (Nature Podcast)
- comets are the fluff of the solar system ('Catching Stardust: Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system')
- eyes like black holes in the sky (Pink Floyd) ☜
- interplanetary dust particles are like the seeds of the Solar System ('Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system')
- gravity kind of goes into overdrive near a black hole (Prof. Andrew Pontzen, UCL)
- heavy stars have a sort of onion skin structure (Prof. Marin Rees, University of Cambodge)
- neutron star is a 'stellar wreck' (Sir Patrick. Moore)
- optical mining sweats water from asteroids and comets ('Catching Stardust: Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system')
- Martian atmospheric gases sort of 'fingerprinted' ('Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system')
- stellar X-rays are like a flag being waved (Prof. Paul Murdin, University of Cambridge)
- surface of Betelgeuse bounces like a plate of jelly (NASA)
- water on comets and asteroids may have a different flavour ('Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system')
atoms and molecules
- atoms are engaged in a sort of chemical speed date to find the right partner ('Explaining Humans: What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
- the electron shells of heavy atoms are like electron soup ('Superheavy: Making and breaking the periodic table')
- (trialkylsilyl)acetylene is like a giant umbrella-shaped protecting group (Prof. Michael Haley, University of Oregon)
biology
biochemistry
- biological messenger molecular is like a legal summons ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
brain and cognition
long-term memory is like a corroded filing cabinet ('The Drugs That Changed Our Minds')
cells
- cells are built up like a Lego kit (Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee, Columbia University)
- cells are like unremarkable gloopy balloons (Dr Adam Rutherford)
- cell filopodia are worm-like (Dr. Hannah Critchlow , Magdalene College, Cambridge)
- Kupffer cells hang around like spiders on the walls ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- macrophages congregage like a massive Transformer ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- magnified cells are like a honeycomb (Robert Hooke)
- mitochondria as tiny batteries (Dr Michael Mosley)
- molecules on cell surfaces kind of act as flags (Nature podcast)
- nucleus is like the brain of the cell (secondary school student)
- nucleus is like the core of the cell (secondary school student)
- nuts contain something like thousands of shoeboxes (Dr Sze-Yen Tan, Deakin University)
- proton pumps are like tiny merry-go-rounds for ions ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- receptor on cell surface is like a magic key ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- shortening of the telomere is like the fraying of a shoelace ('Explaining Humans: What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
- skin cells are like tiny chameleons ('Immune; How your body defends and protects you')
- T cells becomes paralysed (Prof. Dan Theodorescu, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute)
- the nucleus is the brain of the cell ('Explaining Humans: What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
- receptors like tiny hands grab moving neutrophils ('Immune. How your body defends and protects you.')
chemical bonding
- hydrogen bonds are like those you have with colleagues ('Explaining Humans: What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
chemical substances and analysis
- Martian atmospheric gases sort of 'fingerprinted' ('Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system')
- trace elements are the spice in the soup of life (Richard Breuer)
- water on comets and asteroids may have a different flavour ('Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system')
chemistry
disease, infection and the immune system
- a pentamer is a sort of antibody throwing-star ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- alternative complement pathway is like a showering of hand grenades ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- an immune response is like a fire (Dr Daria Hazuda, Merck Research Labs)
- antibodies are like harpoons or missiles which the cell sends out to kill a pathogen (Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee, Columbia University)
- cancer cells kind of slip in unannounced (Nature podcast)
- immune response sort of lights a fire (Dr Daria Hazuda, Merck Research Labs)
- innate immune system is like antiviral software (Dr James Kinross, Imperial College London)
- mast cells explode like dirty bombs ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- monoclonal antibodies are like demented postal workers ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- natural killer cells act as sentinels ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- outbreak of disease is like a breach in a force field ('The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the quest to cure tuberculosis')
- receptor on cell surface is like a magic key ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- the antibody's tailpiece acts like a cattle prod ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
- unvaccinated people are like fish in a barrel ('Immune: How your body defends and protects you')
Earth and geology
- catastrophism was like an epic poem ('Memory Practices in the Sciences')
- the Earth's crust is its rind (William Gilbert)
- uniformitarianism is like bookkeeping ('Memory Practices in the Sciences')
electricity and electronics
- Empress Cixi learnt the circuit board of the Qing court (Prof. Rana Mitter, Harvard University) ☜
- fulgurites are 'fossilized lightning' (Physics World)
elements and the periodic table
- stable superheavy elements seemed like ghosts ('Superheavy: Making and breaking the periodic table')
energy
- conservation of energy is like a sacred commandment (Max Planck)
- trust changes form like energy (Rachel Botsman, University of Oxford)
environment and pollution
- emission control technologies sort of chew up pollution (Dr Eloise Marais, University College London)
ethology
- an animal's Unwelt is like a spider web (Jakob von Uexküll)
- spider webs are found in fly interchanges (Jakob von Uexküll)
evolution
- evolution is like a copycat ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- mutations are sort of the raw material for natural selection (Prof. Jay T. Lennon (Indiana University Bloomington)
- selection theory is like a Tibetan prayer-wheel (Ludwig von Bertalanffy)
excretion
- the skin acts like a handkerchief (Jacobus Cataneus de Lacumarcino)
fieldwork
- research schedule is like a split-brain ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
fossils
fundamental or subatomic particles
- elementary particles can be organised into kinship groups ('The Dream Universe: How fundamental physics lost its way')
genes and genetics
- bands in prepared chromosomes are like GPS with poor satellite coverage ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- chromosome is crammed with three hundred million genetic letters ('Science in Action')
- dead viruses sit like corpses ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- gene was like molecular flypaper ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- genetic control regions are like room thermostats ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- genome is like a graveyard filled with ghosts ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- genome resembles a musical score ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- radiation inducing mutations is like bombing (Mario Bunge)
- Sonic hedgehog gene is a general purpose tool ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
gravitation
- gravity kind of goes into overdrive near a black hole (Prof. Andrew Pontzen, UCL)
light and optics
- laser used as a kind of spark plug (Dr Nick Hawker, First Light Fusion)
- Newton's theory of light was like a punch-drunk boxer ('Light Years: The extraordinary story of mankind' fascination with light')
- optical fibre is spaghetti-like (nature podcast)
- photons were 'born' entangled like twins ('Light Years: The extraordinary story of mankind' fascination with light')
magnetism
- iron is like spiritual food to a lodestone (Robert Fludd)
- lodestone pines away with age (William Gilbert)
materials
- crystal lattice is a pattern like wall paper (Professor Sir Harry Bhadeshia, University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University)
- crystal lattice is like grid-work (Professor Sir Harry Bhadeshia, University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University)
- laser creates a sort of ladder through a Bose-Einstein condensate ('Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind' fascination with light')
- snowflake imitates precisely the skeleton of the octahedron (Johannes Kepler)
medicine
- news of vaccine spread like a virus ('The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the quest to cure tuberculosis')
- patterns on brain scans resemble Captain Scarlet's Mysterons ('Immune. How your body defends and protects you')
- vaccine acts like a 'wanted poster' (BBC News)
microbiome
- the microbiome is like a community of chemical factories (Prof. Tim Spector, King's College London)
nature of science
- alternative conceptions are like weeds (William Gilbert)
- interferons languished in a sort of scientific Siberia (British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology)
- splitters and lumpers are the two feet of science (Gerald Holton)
- suppressing exaplnation in science is like killing the golden egg hen (Mario Bunge)
nucleic acids
- D.N.A. strands attract like magnets (Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, University of Cambridge)
- nucleic acids act as genetic moulds ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
physics
physiology
- blastocyst is like a feral animal ('Immune:How your body defends and protects you')
- brain area is like a junction box ('The Drugs That Changed Our Minds')
- damaged nerves sort of scream (BBC Inside Science)
- endocrine system is like a Ferrari (Prof. Sadaf Farooqi ,University of Cambridge)
- muscles cells soak up blood sugars like a sponge (Dr Michael Mosley)
- placenta acts like a gatekeeper (Prof. Rebecca Reynolds, University of Edinburgh)
- sensory organs serve as a sieve (Jakob von Uexküll)
plants
- labellum is shaped like the mouth of a decoy (Charles Darwin)
- leaf canopy serves as an umbrella (Jakob von Uexküll)
proteins
- proteins act as cellular gatekeepers ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
- proteins act as defensive weapons ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
- proteins act as freight vehicles ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
- proteins are molecular 'labourers' ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
- proteins can act as chemical controllers ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
- proteins can be 'pumps' ('Vital Principles: The molecular mechanisms of life')
radioactivity and nuclear reactions
space exploration
- spacecraft flight path was like a cosmic pinball game (Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system)
- spacecraft 'sniffed' the asteroid's scent (Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system)
waves
- a high-frequency wave is like a Toblerone bar ('Explaining Humans: What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
- a low-frequency wave is similar to a loosely coiled snake ('Explaining Humans: What science can teach us about life, love and relationships')
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!
