An example of a simile used by a scientist:
"If we ever succeed in obtaining a complete picture of the organism in that aspect, we can then construct a theory of all its functions. Logically too the concept of structure serves as a surer starting point, because it at once prescribes a definite direction for research and furnished biology with an Archimedean fulcrum, as it were."
Ernst Cassirer
Cassirer, E. (1950/1978). The Problem of Knowledge. Philosophy, Science, & History since Hegel (W. H. Woglom & C. W. Hendel, Trans.). Yale University Press.
Cassirer was discussing the ideas of Johannes von Uexküll.
I have classified this as a simile, rather than a metaphor due to the term 'as it were' indicating the figuratiuve nature of the comparison.
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