The Emergence of a Root Metaphor in Modern Physics: Max Planck's 'Quantum' Metaphor
http://baywood.metapress.com/app/home/contribution.asp?wasp=c14df7f6668c4eb08715197fc1d78d8d&referrer=parent&backto=issue,5,5;journal,32,136;linkingpublicationresults,1:300326,1
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Johnson-Sheehan, Richard D.
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
1997

Abstract:

The two purposes of this article are: 1) to use metaphorical analysis to determine whether or not Max Planck invented the quantum postulate and 2) to demonstrate how metaphorical analysis can be used to analyze the rhetoric of revolutionary texts in science. Metaphors often serve as the basis of invention for scientific theories. When we identify these metaphors in Planck's original 1900 quantum paper, it is clear that Planck did consider the quantum postulate to be important. However, we also see that he does not consider the quantum postulate to be revolutionary. A New Scientific Truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.