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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, VOL. 53, NO. 2, JUNE 2010 179

Timothy D. Giles

Motives for Metaphor in Scientific and Technical Communication

Book ReviewReviewed by

TIMOTHY L. J. FERRIS, SENIOR MEMBER, IEEE

Index TermsMetaphor, science writing, technical communication.

This short book addresses an interesting subjectin a well-developed, scholarly manner. Gilesaddresses the metaphors place in scientific andtechnical communication. More specifically, the

book addresses how metaphor contributes tothe development of scientific theory and to the

communication of science.

In his introduction, Giles argues that metaphoris important in the communication of scienceto the public because it enables connection ofthe scientific content to the readers knowledge.For example, he refers to the wave-particle dualdescriptions of light that were important in thedevelopment of the physical theory. He repeatsKuhns view that science is a social construction,meaning that the formation and formulation ofscientific theory occur in a social situation mediated

by language. In particular, during the formationphase of a theory, metaphor is important becausethere is no direct language to express the ideas.Giles is also interested in technical communicationpedagogy. The most common approach to teachingmetaphor is as an ornament to decorate the writingrather than as a linguistic tool that is integral tothe communication of the subject matter. Thisperspective is consistent with the common viewthat scientific and technical communication should

be dispassionate and absolute and expressed inplain language.

Chapter 1 begins by distinguishing the purpose ofmetaphor in technical writing, in which it is used tocommunicate, and in business, in which it is usedto persuade. However, modern textbooks of science

Manuscript received August 30, 2009; revised October 15, 2009.Current version published May 21, 2010.

The reviewer is with the Defence and Systems Institute,University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes 5095, Australia(email: timothy.ferris@unisa.edu.au).

IEEE 10.1109/TPC.2010.2046093

Book publisher: Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Company,2008, 178 pp. with index and references.

communication do not explore the nature and useof metaphor. The major reference to metaphor intextbooks concerns the risks of using metaphor ininternational communication, where the problemof understanding is compounded by the differenceof native language.

In Chapter 2, Giles reviews the technicalcommunication literature with a view to showingthe manner in which metaphor is currently used.In the computer industry, traditional patterns ofunderstanding are easily disrupted; the computingindustry reformulated technical communicationpatterns and introduced many metaphors todescribe computer technology, which, as theindustry progressed, themselves became acceptedlanguage and the base of further metaphors. This isa construction that Giles calls stacked metaphors.Effective metaphors take on a strong position in the

imagination, resulting in the metaphor being movedthrough various parts of speech to eventuallycreate a new word. When the new word has becomeestablished, it is seen as the plain-languageexpression of the idea, and recognition of the wordsmetaphoric origin is lost.

In Chapter 3, Giles reviews the theory of metaphor.He looks back to Aristotle, who regarded the useof metaphor as a mark of genius. This opinion islinked to the fact that riddles normally rely on ametaphoric twist: Solving a riddle demands anddemonstrates intellectual ability. A particularly

powerful capability of metaphor is that it allows aperson to name something that has not yet receiveda name; referring to it through a metaphor providessome elucidation of the properties of that whichhas been named. In turn, this process of namingthrough metaphor generates knowledge.

A metaphors quality of assisting in naming thingsis important to the development of science becausescientific research continually confronts thingsthat are not yet explained. In the process of seekingexplanations of a phenomenon, scientists compareit with something, articulated in a metaphor,

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which then becomes a basis for exploring thecharacteristics of the current research subject.

This process enables the scientist to determine theresearch subjects properties. Once the theory has

been developed and clarified, the metaphor may nolonger be required to express the theory.

However, metaphor presents a challenge. Althoughthe similarity between the things named using ametaphor and the things normally denoted by thename used in the metaphor is helpful, there isalso the possibility that the metaphor will lead tomisunderstanding. This difficulty is inherent in theuse of metaphor, and it requires care to ensure ametaphor is interpreted reasonably.

In Chapter 4, Giles presents a case study of the

development of the theory of the atoms structure.The history is well known, and Giles referencesseveral authoritative histories of the developmentof the theory of atomic structure. However, headds the fresh view of the metaphors place in thedevelopment of the theory. The conclusions thatGiles draws from the history about the metaphorsplace in theory development are clearly linked

to his theoretical statements made in the earlierchapters of the book.

In Chapter 5, Giles provides a case study ofmetaphor in natural language. In this study,

he says that it is difficult to remove metaphorfrom scientific writing. Once a theory has beendeveloped, if the metaphor becomes the formalname of the thing denoted, the usage ceases to bemetaphoric and becomes plain language.

The final, short chapter is titled Implications.This chapter concerns applications of the work inthe rest of the book to technical communicationeducation. In particular, this chapter discussesmethods of teaching metaphor awareness as wellas the awareness of the nature and power of formaldefinition.

In summary, this book is a well-written scholarlywork that develops the concept of metaphor asa subject to be taught in technical and scientificcommunication. The book develops the readersunderstanding of the particular nature and role ofmetaphor in technical communication and should

be useful as a reference book for educators.