An example of anthropomorphism in explaining sciemce:
"As long as the three quarks in a nucleon stay within about 10-15 m of each other, they do not feel the force much at all – it is as if they are joined by loose elastic bands that are about that long. But once a quark tries to move further than 10-15 from its partners, the 'elastic bands' start to stretch, pulling it back into place. The more it tries to move away, the more the elastic stretches, and the stronger the force pulling it back becomes. It can only escape from the nucleon if so much energy is put in (perhaps by a collision with another particle) that the elastic band snaps, creating two new quarks out of pure energy, one on each side of the break…"
John Gribbin (1996) Companion to the Cosmos. (Ed., Mary Gribbin) Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Read examples of anthropomorphism in science
Many examples of anthropomorphism are listed in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.
This is also an example of a kind of analogy where a technical idea is explained in terms of something more familiar.
Read examples of scientific analogies
Many examples of science analogies are listed in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.
