An historical example of apparent teleology (the stars are there for some unknown purpose) in scientific writing.
"The same reasoning which places the stars at such immeasurable remoteness, exalts them at the same time into glorious bodies, similar to, and even far surpassing, our own sun, the centres perhaps of other planetary systems, or fulfilling purposes of which we can have no idea, from any analogy in what passes immediately around us."
Sir John Frederick William Herschel
Herschel, J. F. W. (1830). Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy.
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.'
