Abstract

This paper suggests a sufficiently consistent, if preliminary, sketch of the semiotic structure and the aesthetic and heuristic functions of metaphor in science, particularly in chemistry. A propositional concept of metaphor, as underlying previous theories, is disputed. Metaphor is instead semiotically explained as a form of semiosis by way of semasiotropy - a concept developed out of Leopold Kretzenbacher's research in iconotropy. The function of scientific metaphor as an aesthetic agent of creative inference is discussed in terms of Harald Weinrich's image field theory (Bildfeldtheorie). In science, the increase in complexity through the heuristic process is subsequently reduced by strict selection of accepted research