An example of an analogy used in a popular science book:
"We know the rate at which hydrogen is being consumed in some chosen star. So if we also know how much hydrogen was initially available it is a fairly straightforward calculation to find how long the supply will last in this star. Every housewife makes similar calculations. Knowing the rate at which you burn coal and how much coal you have got, it is easy enough to see how long it will be before you run out of fuel. The calculations of the astrophysicist are exactly similar to this in principle though more complicated in detail. Hydrogen takes the place of the coal, and the rate at which it is being consumed can be got from the brightness of the star, just as you could get an idea of how much coal you were using from the heat of your fire."
Fred Hoyle (1960) The Nature of the Universe (Revised ed.)
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.
This example seems anachronistic (as well as sexist) now, but at the time Hoyle was writing most people in urban locations (in the UK at least, and likely in many other countries) had coal fires, and a small 'bunker' outside the house for storing coal. Coal was bought by the bag, delivered to the bunker by a representative of the vendor.
