An historical example of metaphor in science writing.
"Has Saturn, perhaps, devoured his own children?"
Galileo Galilei
Quoted in: Moore, P. (1994). The Great Astronomical Revolution. 1534-1687 and the Space Age epilogue. Albion Publishing.
Galileo reported seeing two moons of Saturn (like the four he had observed around Jupiter), one each side – but later found they could no longer be observed. He was actually seeing the rings through a microscope that was not able to give a sharp image.
Saturn's rings become harder to detect when not seen from Earth at an oblique angle.
Traditionally, the planet Saturn was personified as a male person, associated with a mythical god. In myth, the god Saturn did devour his children, being afraid of a prophecy that one would come to overthrow him.
Read about personification in science texts
Read about examples of personifying nature
Read about other examples of personification
