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.)
astronomy
- a light beam just kind of gets sucked into a black hole (Prof. Andrew Pontzen, UCL)
- black holes in merged galaxies sink (Nature Podcast)
- 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)
- 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')
biology
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)
- magnified cells are like a honeycomb (Robert Hooke)
- nuts contain something like thousands of shoeboxes (Dr Sze-Yen Tan, Deakin University)
- 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')
- 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
- 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
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
energy
- conservation of energy is like a sacred commandment (Max Planck)
- trust changes form like energy (Rachel Botsman, University of Oxford)
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')
- selection theory is like a Tibetan prayer-wheel (Ludwig von Bertalanffy)
excretion
- the skin acts like a handkerchief (Jacobus Cataneus de Lacumarcino)
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')
- 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')
- 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)
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)
- 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')
- 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')
magnetism
- iron is like spiritual food to a lodestone (Robert Fludd)
- lodestone pines away with age (William Gilbert)
materials
- a crystal lattice is a pattern like wall paper (Professor Sir Harry Bhadeshia, University of Cambridge and Queen Mary University)
- laser creates a 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
- patterns on brain scans resemble Captain Scarlet's Mysterons ('Immune. How your body defends and protects you')
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)
physics
physiology
- brain area is like a junction box ('The Drugs That Changed Our Minds')
- placenta acts like a gatekeeper (Prof. Rebecca Reynolds, University of Edinburgh)
- sensory organs serve as a sieve (Jakob von Uexküll)
plants
radioactivity and nuclear reactions
Solar system
- comets are the fluff of the solar system ('Catching Stardust: Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system')
- optical mining sweats water from asteroids and comets ('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')
Some examples from science reported in the media
A cell is organised into rooms like a spacecraft
Immune response to viral infection can be like a fire being ignited (a scientist being interviewed on the radio)
Simile in popular accounts of science
| Topic | Simile | Source |
| genome | "The genome at every level resembles a musical score in which the same musical phrases are repeated in different ways to make vastly different songs." | Neil Shubin, Some Assembly Required. Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA |
| isotopic composition | "Meteorites that are suspected to have been knocked off Mars bring with them Martian atmospheric gases they trapped within their rock structure when they formed. When these samples are cracked open in laboratories on Earth, the gases trapped inside can be measured and their composition and abundance compared with the measurements made in space – like a sort of 'fingerprinting'." | Natalie Starkey Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system |
| Kupffer cells | "The Kupffer cells hang around like spiders on the walls of the blood vessels waiting to catch any red blood cells which have passed their best before date (typically 120 days)." | Catherine Carver. Immune. How your body defends and protects you [Read about this book] |
| implantation | "It [the blastocyst – "the ball of cells that makes up the new embryo"] tears a hole deep into the lining of the uterus, forcing its way down through layers of tissue, like a feral animal that leaves a trail of inflammation in its wake." | Catherine Carver. Immune. How your body defends and protects you [Read about this book] |
| infectious disease | "A sudden outbreak of disease – West Nile virus say, or cholera or salmonella – appears to us like a breach in a force field, an aberration that we expect some authority will address and stamp out before it comes close to threatening our families." | Thomas Goetz The Remedy. Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the quest to cure tuberculosis. |
| light | "…Newton's theory [of light] was like a punch-drunk boxer: still standing, not realising that he has already been knocked out." | Brian Clegg, Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light. |
| light | "…Hau's first experiments used one laser to form a sort of ladder through the otherwise opaque Bose-Einstein condensate that allowed a second ladder to claw its way through. But if that first laser, called the coupling laser, is gradually decreased in power, the team found the second beam was swallowed up in the material." | Brian Clegg, Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light. |
| macrophages | "…a set of varied and diverse circumstances can prompt multiple macrophages to congregate together and, like a massive Transformer, self-assemble into one magnificent giant cell boasting multiple nuclei." | Catherine Carver, Immune. How your body defends and protects you [Read about this book] |
| memory | "Memory is tricky and notoriously unreliable, but it has its physical place too. Memories hide in the hippocampus and then get uploaded for long-term storage as if to a friable file cabinet corroded by rust and holes." | Lauren Slater, The Drugs that Changed our Minds. |
| NK [natural killer] cells | "…NK cells are distributed far and wide throughout the body because they act as sentinels, interrogating the cells they meet to see if they've been compromised." | Catherine Carver, Immune. How your body defends and protects you [Read about this book] |
| nuclear stability | "The island of stability and the elements surrounding it seemed like ghosts, and repeated attempts to make them had, like the hint in nature, failed." | Kit Chapman, Superheavy. Making and breaking the periodic table |
| nucleic acids | Nucleic acids "act as genetic moulds" | Andrew Scott, Vital Principles. The molecular mechanisms of life |
| proteins | "Proteins can act as gatekeepers of the cell…" "Proteins can…act as chemical controllers" "The proteins which perform these feats are not gates, but 'pumps'…" "…proteins are the molecular 'labourers' of life…" "act as freight vehicles transporting various chemicals around the body" "as chemical messages which are sent from one cell to another" "can act as defensive weapons…" | Andrew Scott, Vital Principles. The molecular mechanisms of life |
| proton pumps | "Parietal cells dotted around the surface of the stomach are equipped with proton pumps, which are like tiny merry-go-rounds for ions." | Catherine Carver, Immune. How your body defends and protects you [Read about this book] |
| quantum entanglement | "But every once in a while, instead of one photon, two were given off, each of lower energy. These two photons were 'born' entangled, the optical equivalent of twins." | Brian Clegg, Light Years. The extraordinary story of mankind's fascination with light. |
| red giants | "The star's interior convection cells, …may be sloshing around like an imbalanced washing machine tub, …the surface is still bouncing like a plate of gelatin dessert [jelly]…" | NASA website [discussed here] |
| ribosomes | "A ribosome travels down its attached mRNA, a bit like a bead running down a thread (or sometimes like a thread being pulled through a bead)…" "…the 'ribosomes' – molecular 'work-benches' composed of protein and RNA…" | Andrew Scott Vital Principles. The molecular mechanisms of life |
| skin cells | "…it takes the skin cells two to four weeks to migrate through the four layers of the epidermis, changing their appearance like tiny chameleons…" | Catherine Carver Immune. How your body defends and protects you [Read about this book] |
| space exploration | "The result is that Rosetta's journey resembled something like a cosmic pinball game as it performed multiple close fly-bys of planets – the Earth in 2005, 2007 and 2009, and Mars in 2007 – four orbits around the Sun and two transits through the asteroid belt." | Natalie Starkey Catching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the Solar System |
| space exploration | "When the results came in, at first the mission scientists thought that the Rosetta instruments had failed to analyse the asteroid [Luteria] at all, being too distant to 'sniff' its gases. Instead, they thought they had simply sniffed the spacecraft itself, or rather its exhaust gases. … after careful examination of the data the scientists saw that Rosetta had picked up the scent of the asteroid after all." | Natalie StarkeyCatching Stardust. Comets, asteroids and the birth of the Solar System |
| vaccination | "The news of Pasteur's anthrax vaccine itself spread like a virus through Europe." [This can also be seen as a pun.] | Thomas Goetz The Remedy. Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the quest to cure tuberculosis. |
| viruses | "The unvaccinated population were [sic] like fish in a barrel for the measles virus." | Catherine Carver Immune. How your body defends and protects you [Read about this book] |
Simile in the media
| Topic | Simile | Source |
| crystal structures | "…the picture I think people should have in mind when you talk about these crystalline arrangements, It's a crystal lattice, like a grid-work, you know, where the atoms are arranged in these equally spaced points" So it's a pattern, in effect, it's like wall paper, | Professor Sir Harry Bhadeshia (Emeritus Tata Steel Professor of Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge; Professor of Metallurgy, Queen Mary University of London) interviewed on an episode of BBC's The Life Scientific |
| endocrine system | "So to avoid easily tripping over into too much or too little [of a hormone], you need to have a very fine system to control everything and keep it stable. And so I think what we have developed is essentially proteins that will carry and protect those hormones… you've got proteins that will reduce it if it is a little too much, that will change the level depending upon your age or your puberty or pregnancy, so you need a fine tune system to keep everything, basically it's like a Ferrari, you have to keep everything in sync." | Sadaf Farooqi – Professor of Metabolism and Medicine at the University of Cambridge, speaking on an edition of BBC's In Our Time |
| homeobox genes | "And what we had to do was to separate those two strands, and then ask those separated strands to find the complementary sequence in the human genome that we had also separated into single stranded pieces. So, it was sort of like a magnet, sort of like asking that fly piece [of D.N.A.] to bind to the opposite strand in the human genome like a magnet." | Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and the Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics at the University of Cambridge, interviewed on 'The Life Scientific' |
| innate immune system | "And the innate immune system is a bit like a, it's a bit like an antiviral software that we are all born with that fights infection." | Dr James Kinross, Senior Lecturer in Colorectal Surgery and a Consultant Surgeon at Imperial College London, speaking on 'Start the Week' |
| mitochondria | "You can think of mitochondria as tiny batteries, that live inside our cells and provide them with energy." | Dr Michael Mosley on BBC's 'Stay Young' |
| natural selection | "…the mutations are sort of the raw material on which natural selection can operate on" | Prof. Jay T. Lennon (Indiana University Bloomington) interviewed on the Nature podcast |
| nuclear fusion technology | "[the US National Ignition Facility] have done this with a laser as the kind of spark plug to put the energy into the reaction" | Dr Nick Hawker, First Light Fusion, interviewed on Radio 4 news programme PM |
| optical fibres | "A fibre laser works by first converting electricity to laser light, using lots of laser diodes, which are high-powered versions of what you might find in a CD player. That light is then channelled into a long, thin, spaghetti-like optical fibre…" | Andy Extance (science journalist/writer) interviewed on the Nature Podcast |
| physiology | "…muscles cells, in the other hand, have a positive effect, when you exercise they soak up blood sugars like a sponge" | Dr Michael Mosley on BBC Just One Thing – Stay Young |
| pollution | "We insert emission control technology into stacks in power plants, and those technologies, sort of, chew up pollution before it reaches the atmosphere…" | Dr Eloise Marais, Associate Professor in Physical Geography, University College London, talking on BBC Inside Science |
| spinal cord injury | "My interpretation of this would be that before the rehabilitation, all these damaged nerves are sort of screaming to try and get the message through to the legs, but it is not working. But, the, some of the nerves learn that they can actually do this, and the other ones become less loud. In other words you are sort of retraining those nerves almost." | Roland Pease summarising research on BBC's Science in Action |
| stars | "heavy stars…which have this sort of onion skin structure" | Prof. Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, talking on the radio [discussed here] |
| T cells | "The Y-negative cells cause an immune evasive environment in the tumour, and that, if you will, paralyses, the T cells, and exhausts them, makes them tired and ineffective, and this prevents the Y-negative tumour from being rejected, therefore allowing it to grow much better." | Prof. Dan Theodorescu speaking on the Nature Podcast (read about this) |
| transmissible cancers | "…the cancer cells, they don't produce many of the molecules on their surface that kind of act as a flag to the immune system, so they can kind of slip in unannounced if you see what I mean…" | Dr Benjamin Thompson, Senior Multimedia Editor, Nature, talking on the Nature podcast |
| X-ray stars | "if you see X-rays coming from a star, it's like a flag that the star is waving at you saying, 'look at me, look at me, I'm interesting'." | Prof. Paul Murdin Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, interviewed on BBC The Life Scientific |
Science as a source for simile…
| Source topic | Simile | Source of simile |
| black holes | "Now there's a look in your eyes Like black holes in the sky" | Pink Floyd From the lyrics to 'Shine on you crazy diamond' (David Gilmour / Richard Wright / Roger Waters) |
| brain | "…I have run a kind of split-brain laboratory, spending summers in the field looking for fossils and working the rest of the year with embryos and DNA." | Neil Shubin, Some Assembly Required. Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA |
| Rorschach [ink-blots] test | The test "does not reveal a behaviour picture, but rather shows – like an X-ray picture – the underlying structure which makes behaviour understandable". | Bruno Klopfer, psychoanalyst, reported in Damion Searls, The Inkblots. Hermann Rorschach, his iconic test & the power of seeing |
Learner’s simile
| Source topic | Simile | Source of simile |
| Cell nucleus | "It's kind of like, the brain of the cell kind of. It's, it's what gets the cell to do everything, it's like, the core of the cell." | 'Bert': Y10 student (Read about this example) |
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!
