An example of teleology in popular science writing:
"Indeed, considering on the one hand the remarkable permanence of genes, which carry almost without any deviation the properties of a given species through thousands of generations, and on the other hand the comparatively small number of individual atoms that form one gene [we conclude that each separate gene must be built from about one million atoms], one cannot consider it otherwise than as a well-planned structure in which each atom or atomic group sits in its predetermined place."
George Gamow (1961) One, Two, Three…Infinity. Facts and speculations of science, Revised Edition, Dover Publications, Inc., New York.
Read about teleology in science
Read examples of teleological (pseudo)explanations for scientific phenomena
Read about types of pseudo-explanations
Examples of teleological statements are included in a document listing a wide range of examples of science analogies, similes, metaphors and the like, drawn from diverse sources, which can be downloaded using this link: 'Creative Comparisons: Making Science Familiar through Language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts.'
It is difficult to tell form a written text such as this whether the teleology (that genes are structures the have been pre-planned) is intended, or simply meant figuratively.
