Carol Reeves's Use Of Metaphors In The Language Of Science

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Metaphors: A Common Ground Social media limits users to a mere one hundred and forty characters. Science and technology are introducing unfathomable topics and ideas almost every single day. In a society of ever-changing technology, medical breakthroughs, scientific discoveries, and social media, it is becoming increasingly difficult to convey ideas accurately to the target audience. A common fix to this issue is the implementation of metaphors. Carol Reeves discusses metaphors and their applications to science in The Language of Science. Metaphors are a type of analogy that compares two different ideas that have a few similar characteristics. Reeves uses the terminology “informing domain” and “target domain” to break down the mechanics of a metaphor (Reeves 22). The informing domain is an idea readers already understand and can relate to. The informing domain aids readers in understanding a broader, less recognizable topic, the target domain (Reeves 22). In the common metaphor, “I’m heartbroken”, “broken” or “to break” is the informing …show more content…

Reeves uses the example of Johanes Kepler who believed the universe acted like a machine (Reeves 26). By likening the vast, complex universe to a machine, Kepler is better equipped to explain his predictions about the behaviors of the universe. A common place to look for scientific metaphors is a school. In order to understand new and difficult scientific concepts, students need to make connections to their own lives (Reeves 30). It may be difficult to visualize or get past the wording of the DNA structure, a double helix, but when it is compared to a spiral staircase, students begin to picture it. Regardless of the context or purpose, metaphors are essential to communicating in the scientific world. They create a common ground and starting point for an audience to understand and accurately interpret new

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