An example of the use of metaphor in popular science writing:
"Now we come to a very important special type of cell division which leads to the formation of the so-called 'gametes' or 'marrying cells' which are responsible for the reproductive phenomenon.
At the very earliest stage of any bisexual living organism, a number of its cells are set apart 'in reserve' for future reproductive activity. These cells, located in special reproductive organs, undergo many fewer ordinary divisions during the growth of the organism than do any other cells in the body, and are fresh and unexhausted when they are called upon to produce new offspring."
George Gamow (1961) One, Two, Three…Infinity. Facts and speculations of science, Revised Edition, Dover Publications, Inc., New York.
'gametes' or 'marrying cells'?: The technical term gamete (the collective term for sperm and ova) derives (via Latin) from the Greek words for husband, wife and marriage.
