I strongly disagree. I don't disagree that human mind is limited by metaphors. I disagree that it applies to this situation.

Before you know about radioactivity and nuclear reactions the only options available were:

1. Try to find reasonable explanation using scientific explanations (chemistry at that time) and try to calculate the possibilities.

2. Leave the question undetermined.

3. Wildly speculate without any constraints. (God or some magic force).

Science was limited by data and experiments.