과학 교재의 은유 분석

The expressive values of metaphors for rhetorical purposes which have been esteemed for ages in rhetoric and literature have been rejected as inappropriate in science in that metaphors cause ambiguity. The cognitive theory of metaphor, which suggests that metaphors dominate the human life of language by forming conceptual systems on the empirical foundation, directs us to the fact that metaphors play essential roles in science, requesting to rethink the process and intellectual status of science. In science, the conceptual metaphor which involves common experience of nature plays sort of unrecognized premises that implies perspectives widely accepted in specific hours and places but is not mentioned explicitly. Analyzing Jeans’s Science and Music, a textbook of musical acoustics reveals many of roles of metaphors. A metaphor determines the book"s main characteristics, directions of discourse, and even the tone of writing. And metaphors easily introduce basic terms, concepts as well as scientific principles for helping teach science. Thus, major achievements in acoustics which are involved in the textbook show that metaphors are a major tool for productive scientific teaching and research.