It can be very challenging to understand the complexity of a given scientific concept; this is where the use of metaphors intertwines with science communication as well as how science can be grasped by the general public. Metaphors can be used as a form of truth to those who are unfamiliar with the nomenclature of presented information (Brooks, 2011).
The origin of the word “metaphor” comes from the Greek, who used the term metaphora, originating from meta and pherein meaning “over” and “to carry”, respectively (Taylor et al., 2018). It is apparent that the modern word “metaphor” describes the connection of two outwardly different ideas and proposes a relationship or association between them (Taylor et al., 2018). It is in this regard that a metaphor can lay out a narrative for one to follow a concept.
The role of a metaphor is different within each disciple of science as it offers the reader a different approach to understanding the overarching notion presented in a particular article or paper. For the general public, a metaphor offers an easier way to interpret and relate to the data presented in a study. Scientists widely rely on the correlation between metaphors and logical reasoning in order to express their results and findings between the general population and other members of the scientific community (Taylor et al., 2018). Not only are these literary devices part of the cognitive approach to science, but they also impact the direction in which a field of science evolves and grows (Kübler et al., 2011).
Charles Darwin made great use of metaphors, especially within his work on Origin of the Species. He wrote in such a way that contributed to its success, even among those who were non-specialists. He did so by connecting a person’s day-to-day familiarities with that of his methodical observations, providing a metaphorical framework of his findings on the history of species (Brooks, 2011). Darwin’s idea of natural selection can also be viewed as a metaphor because at the time of its introduction, it was an extremely unfamiliar and foreign concept; thus, a method was needed for it to be made accessible. He did so by linking it to procedures used in farms in the time period of publication. Farmers and gardeners used to perform what Darwin termed “artificial selection” to form different varieties of animals and plants by permitting solely the organisms with desired traits to reproduce. From this, he explained his notion of natural selection (Cooperrider, 2016).
Metaphors allow scientists to present a method to which their ideas and conclusions can gain traction (Cooperrider, 2016). Metaphors remain a constant as times continue to change. These important literary devices will continue to provide the basic framework upon which to build complex scientific concepts.
Resources:
Brooks, D.R., 2011. The Major Metaphors of Evolution: Visualizing the Extended Synthesis. Evolution: Education and Outreach, [e-journal] 4(1), pp.446–452. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12052-011-0360-3
Cooperrider, K., 2016. Why “Natural Selection” Became Darwin’s Fittest Metaphor, [online] Available at: <http://nautil.us/blog/why-natural-selection-became-darwins-fittest-metaphor> [Accessed October 3 2020].
Kübler, N., Volanschi, A., 2011. The impact of metaphorical framing on term creation in biology. Terminology, [e-journal] 17(2), pp.198-223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/term.17.2.02vol
Taylor, C., Dewsbury, B.M., 2018. On the Problem and Promise of Metaphor Use in Science and Science Communication. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, [e-journal] 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.v19i1.1538
Comments
9 Responses to “The Use of Metaphors in Science Communication”
Hi Aunika!
This was a really interesting post to read! I really liked the parallel you made with Darwin’s theory and his use of metaphors to explain natural selection. Here are some suggestions I would make for your updated blog:
– In your first paragraph, you wrote “as well as how science is able to be grasped by the general public.”, which I think is a more complex way of writing the sentence. I would suggest writing something along the lines of “as well as how science is grasped by the general public” to keep it simple and easy to understand.
– In the third paragraph, there is a part where you wrote disciple in, but I think you meant discipline, so watch out for errors like that!
– There is another place where you wrote “It apparent that the modern word”, and I’m not quite sure what you mean with this. Perhaps you can write it like “It is apparent that metaphors are used in the modern world to….”, but I’m not sure if I understood what you meant to write!
– I would also advise you to make a page break, or add a heading to separate your works cited from the main text, because right now it is difficult to understand where the blog ends.
Good luck with your edits!
Samridhi Sharma
Hi Aunika!
First off, I really enjoyed your post! It was a unique topic and I really enjoyed how it looked at the more literacy side of science. Great job! Just a couple things to note:
-In the second paragraph you wrote “It apparent…”, I’m pretty sure you meant to say “it is apparent…” so take a look at the phrasing of that sentence. Similarly, in the third paragraph, you wrote: “disciple in” where I assume it should say “discipline” just take a look at those.
-I would also recommend separating your works cited page from the written piece, maybe add a title as separation.
-I found that as I was reading the piece I wanted to look at an example of a metaphor in a notable piece of scientific work. Consider adding an image to combat this, maybe an excerpt from Darwin’s ‘Origins of Species’?
-Now this tip is purely from my dramatic, theater-loving self, but when I was reading your post I was really hoping you would integrate some sort of metaphor at the end. Maybe consider ending the piece with one as a final ‘mic drop.’
Can’t wait to read about why you chose this topic and happy editing!
-Sarah Menezes
Hi Aunika!
This was such an interesting post and fascinating topic! Here are a few suggestions I have:
– Don’t forget to post a comment on why you chose this topic and how it relates to iSci
– In your first paragraph, at the beginning of the second sentence, there is an extra space
– The first sentence of your second paragraph can be better worded to be clearer to understand. Instead of “The origin of the word metaphor began with the Greek who used the term metaphora, originating […]”, you can reword it as “The origin of the word metaphor comes from the Greek term metaphora, originating […]”
– There is an extra space in the second sentence of the fifth paragraph
I know that I nit-picked on my suggestions, but that is because it was very well written and I could barely see anything to change. Looking forward to reading the final post!
Happy Editing,
Dua
Hi Aunika! First and foremost, your choice of topic is outstanding! I definitely pick up on concepts more quickly and remember them better if they are taught using metaphors/analogies, and I always keep this in mind when I tutor or explain scientific concepts to my peers.
I have a couple of small suggestions for you:
1. At the end of paragraph 2, try to avoid ending your sentence with a preposition (in this case, the word “with”). One way to do this would be “…can lay out a concept with which one can follow along.” I know it sounds backwards out loud but this sentence structure is less colloquial and more suitable for written work.
2. At the end of paragraph 3, you may want to write “implications in their lives” as opposed to “their life” to imply individuals with their own lives rather than one collective life. Also, day to day in paragraph 5 is generally written as day-to-day.
3. I know there are still some technical issues with commenting right now, but try to post a comment as soon as you are able explaining how you chose this topic and/or why it is interdisciplinary (that’s somewhat self-explanatory for this post, but something along those lines). You could even write it after your works cited for now with a note that you’ll be posting it as a comment asap.
I’m very excited to read your finished product!
Cheers,
Maya
Hi Aunika!
I loved reading your blog! It definitely got me thinking about science communication in a way I haven’t before, so great work in engaging the reader.
Overall I think the content of your blog is great! As your next steps, I would probably advice you to look over some of the grammatical aspects. I have highlighted a couple suggestions below.
1. In the third paragraph, first sentence you state, “The role of a metaphor is different within each disciple in of science.” I believe the preposition “of” isn’t required.
2. Reading along the same sentence it states, “understanding the overarching notion presented in the particular article or paper.” I believe the word “the particular article” would be more appropriate if the word was switched to “a particular article.”
3. Towards the end of third paragraph you wrote, “Not only are these literary devices part of the cognitive approach to science, they also impact the direction…” Usually when you use ‘not only’ the conjugate phrase should be ‘but also.’ Perhaps you can consider adding “but” as it will make the sentence flow better. So the updated sentence would be “”Not only are these literary devices part of the cognitive approach to science, BUT they also impact the direction…”
I believe our peers have already identified the remaining grammatical tweaks.
Again, this blog was a great read. Looking forward to the updated version!
Best,
Vidhi Bhatt
Hey Aunika,
I really liked reading your blog post! I struggle with understanding concepts without examples and metaphors so it is cool to read about it. Here are a few suggestions:
-It might be helpful to put a citation in the same sentence when explaining where the word metaphor comes from (second paragraph)
-In your second paragraph second sentence you say, “It apparent that…”. Did you mean to say, “It is apparent that…”
-I don’t think the sentence, “It creates their own way to visualise a picture of what it means to them and its implications in their life.” is necessary. If you choose to keep it though, there is one spelling error. It is “visualize” with a Z! (I made the same mistake last year so now I have an eye for it lol)
-In your conclusion paragraph you have a sentence about how metaphors are constant. I feel like it can fit better as part of your last sentence. Maybe try something along the lines of “…times change and will always be around…” and see how that works!
I enjoyed that you gave an example of someone using a metaphor, and it was really cool that it was Darwin!
Can’t wait to read the final copy 🙂 Happy edits!
-Posy O’Keefe
Hi Aunika,
Your blog post was very well written and I really enjoyed reading it. This is such an interesting topic and is so important in emphasizing the need to communicate science so that a wide variety of audiences can understand!
A few minor suggestions that I had:
– This might have just been an issue with your VPN, but make sure to leave a comment in the future about why you chose this topic and what makes it interdisciplinary. I’d love to hear about why you chose this!
– In the second sentence of the third paragraph, “For the general public … a study.”, I believe there should be a comma after the word public.
– In the second sentence of the fifth paragraph, “He wrote … were non-specialists.”, I believe that the word ‘away’ should actually be ‘a way’.
– In your blog post, you talk about how Darwin had to use a metaphor to introduce natural selection. However, the example given was regarding artificial selection. I was just curious if Darwin had a different metaphor to introduce the concept of natural selection.
I hope my suggestions are helpful in your editing process, you did an amazing job!
Veronica
Hello everyone!
Thank you so very much for all your wonderful words about my blog post! I really appreciated all of your comments and I reviewed/fixed each of the things everyone had suggested then updated my post. Turns out I need to spend some more time editing!
I had no idea that I needed to leave a comment describing why I choose this topic! It’s a little late, but here it is:
I was really struggling to find a topic to write about for this post, so I had a meeting with Abeer to get some ideas flowing. At first, I started off with the notion that I wanted to talk about leaf cutter ants and how they are an example of superorganism theory. Then that turned into me mentioning that the colony of ants reminded me of a political system and how the two are similar/different. This then led into Abeer bringing up metaphors. From that spark, I searched for articles that could make the topic interdisciplinary. This was when I stumbled across the Darwin example. Then I started writing and before I knew it, I had a blog post!
Thanks again everyone!!
-Aunika
Hello Aunika,
Your blog post was excellent. It was well-written, informative, and I appreciate the in-depth background research. I have a few suggestions that might help you in your editing process:
1. In your third paragraph, the first sentence is a run-on sentence and I suggest adding a common after “discipline of science, as it…”
2. In your fourth paragraph, the intro sentence is again a run on sentence and I suggest adding a common. Also, you wrote “evolves and grows” at the end of the paragraph but they are basically the same ideas and I think it would be better to change one of them or take one out.
3. In your first sentence in your fifth paragraph, you write “user of metaphors” and “within his work” I think that sounds a bit fragmented and it would be better to say he “utilized metaphors in his book, Origin of the Species”.
This was a very nice piece, keep up the great work. Best of luck in the editing process.
Best,
Jas