the Nobel prize is awarded to the fathers not the baptisers of remarkable ideas

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An example of metaphor in writing about science:

"…several meanings and roles may consistently be assigned to the symbol '𝝍': it may at the same time belong to an abstract function space, it may represent the physical state of a system as a whole, the de Broglie wave associated with the latter, the amplitude of the probability of position, and so on. For the latter interpretation M. Born was awarded the Nobel prize – which is given to the fathers of remarkable ideas, not their baptisers unless the name happens to convey the meaning."

Mario Bunge

Bunge, M. (2017/1998). Philosophy of Science. Volume 1: From problem to theory. Routledge.

[Please be aware that a word may have different nuances, or even a different meaning, according to context.]« Back to Index