What is the significance of science’s reliance on metaphor? Does the fact that much of the language of science is non-literal undermine its status as objective knowledge of reality or its ability to help us solve practical problems concerning the world and our health? What should readers keep in mind when they hear or read scientists employing metaphorical language?

Scientific language, especially that which is metaphorical, should be regarded as similar to provisional hypotheses that may require revision or ultimate rejection depending upon what the evidence suggests. We should also be aware that the metaphors scientists use may have quite positive effects for them in their original narrow application, allowing them to think about, understand, and possibly to manipulate some very specific and limited aspect of the world, but that the metaphor may be less adequate when applied to the broader system as a whole.