Images fuel science even more than math does.
It might not feel like it, but it’s true. For one thing, humans started drawing pictures long before they started drawing equations.
Capturing what we see, so we can look at it again later is something we take for granted in today’s world. Selfies. Reels. Even doodles, are all visually rich ways of freezing a moment or thought so we have it in the future.
Some of the most popular types of science articles are “Our Favorite Science Photos of 2025 (Science)”, “The Best Science Images of 2025 (Nature)”, and “These Are Our Top Space Images of All Time (Science News)”.
Researchers and the public love to look through the marvels of nature in digital flipbook style. (Because it’s gorgeous!)
The problem is, too often, after we scroll past the last image, we treat the photos like a pleasant diversion. Something just to post to our social media accounts and move on.
But images in science are gold mines for scientific insight.
We already rely on analogies in science, but we need to recognize that metaphors are equally powerful thought tools.
Images Make Metaphors Sticky
If you’ve followed the blog for a while, you’ll know I’m obsessed with choosing surprising feature photos for each and every post.
Why?
Because I love using cover photos as metaphors for the piece’s main point (sometimes they are technically similes, but po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe…).
Each blog post is designed to take one idea and showcase it in a way that sticks with us. Things we don’t remember, we don’t do.
Visuals are naturally sticky. A tremendous amount of the human body is dedicated to visual processing. So, we’re good at seeing and good at remembering what we see.
If we pair what we see with a good conceptual metaphor, it anchors the idea into our memory much faster than flat text. Especially if the pairing is surprising.
We’re hardwired to notice what’s jarring faster than we notice what’s familiar, because our brain assumes the unfamiliar thing might be dangerous (better pay attention!).
A good visual metaphor is like a memory hack for an idea if the image is startling.
That just leaves deciding what metaphor matters.
Analogies Highlight Features but Metaphors Highlight Essentials
I’ve talked on the blog before about using sketches to help us think (and shared at least one of my own science concept sketches).
Many famous researchers and thinkers were also artists (Da Vinci, Galileo, Feynman…).
It’s not a big mental leap to see that drawings can help get ideas out of our head so we can tinker with them. Physicist Richard Feynman famously invented so-called Feynman diagrams, which are just stick doodles that can be used to summarize complex math in easier-to-handle images.
But often, the images are direct representations or pictures of an analogy.
Analogies are when we link two science concepts based on their functional or structural features. Analogies focus on features. Any features will work to create an analogy. The analogy itself won’t tell you if you picked useful features or not.
Metaphors on the other hand, force us to focus on the essential. If we’re really going to say that two totally different things are alike (the definition of a metaphor) then we have to know what precisely captures the spirit of their sameness. We have to decide what matters.
Sure, a banana and uranium cake can both be yellow. But what’s more interesting is that they are both radioactive. If you’re investigating radioactivity that’s the more essential feature. (Don’t worry, the radioactivity in a banana won’t hurt you; even if you have a smoothie every day.)
Trying to come up with a visual metaphor for an idea is much more challenging than finding an analogy. But it rewards us with much deeper understanding when we succeed.
“The Illustrated Scientist” is a Way to Celebrate Metaphors in Science
We’re launching our social media channels later this year (the buttons might already be on the page by the time you read this). And a feature we can’t wait to include is “The Illustrated Scientist” series.
At the end of every year, we’ll highlight the best photos from the blog. The images whose visual metaphors still stick with us, long after the post has left our memory.
We want to celebrate the photographers, the images, and the metaphors that fuel our pursuit of discovery.
Analogies are like mirrors that reflect elements of a science puzzle. But metaphors are swords. They cut through to the heart of something and help us define what matters.
No matter what image you choose (reality, analogy, or metaphor): a good image is worth a thousand words and a shortcut to scientific insight.
