ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the use of metaphor to mediate, constitute, frame and situate such knowledge is both inescapable and frequently problematic. For Francis Bacon, the necessity of progress in science was linked with the ability of the scientific endeavor to relieve the suffering of man at the hands of nature. Commentators have historically blamed 'failures' of science communication, as embodied by public outrage or rejection of a certain technology, on inaccuracies in reporting or a lack of understanding on the part of 'the public'. The philosophers, journalists, social scientists and press officers they have explored both the causes and effects of metaphors in communicating science. In biomedical research, to which Dunn's metaphor originally referred, even steps and leaps are too slow. The metaphor of genetic barcoding, discussed by both Strauss and Larson, is an excellent example of this phenomenon.
