An example of simile (and anthropomorphic metaphor) in popular science writing:
"…it is also apparent that the water is far from still, and that its molecules are in a state of violent agitation moving around and pushing one another as though they were people in a highly excited crowd. … For those organisms that are much smaller than human beings, such as, for example, small bacteria suspended in a water drop, the effect of thermal motion is much more pronounced, and these poor creatures are incessant kicked, pushed, and tossed around by the restless molecules that attack them from all sides and give them no rest…"
George Gamow (1961) One, Two, Three…Infinity. Facts and speculations of science, Revised Edition, Dover Publications, Inc., New York.
Read about examples of science similes
The description here is anthropomorphic in that language is used which is more appropriate for sentient people than water molecules or bacteria (e.g. that molecules kick or attack bacteria is only metaphor; the notion of rest makes sense to us, but is questionable when applied to a bacterium.)
Read examples of anthropomorphism in science
