Publications
Publication details [#19625677]
Smith, Thomas H. and Anke Beger. 2020. Conclusion: When metaphors serve scientific ends. In Beger, Anke and Thomas H. Smith. How Metaphors Guide, Teach and Popularize Science (Figurative Thought and Language 6). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 297–318.
Publication type
Article in book
Publication language
English
Keywords
Abstract
This final chapter uses the metaphor characteristics set forth in the introductory chapter to comment on the individual studies reported here. Where the introductory chapter describes the principles of modern metaphor research that promise to improve access to science, this chapter highlights the actual application of these principles as found in the chapters of this book. When we focus on key requirements of scientific inquiry – description, explanation, and prediction – metaphor is found to be both very helpful and sometimes to pose difficulties. Such results are reviewed here, with discussions intended to benefit scientists, communicators, and metaphor scholars.