I sent this out Saturday afternoon but it apparently got lost in the
pipeworks.
Jim
Submitted a moment ago as a letter to the editor of Science:
Dear Editor,
Apart from the occasional anachronistic use of "micron" or "angstrom",
your magazine is one the best ones published in the U.S. in terms of
properly using the metric system.
One chronic and nearly ubiquitous stylistic error has finally spurred me
to write to you. That is your improper formatting style when stating
temperatures.
All quantity values comprise a numerical value and a unit. When written
in symbolic form, a space is to appear between the numerical value and
the unit symbol. This is true even in the case of temperatures. The
symbol for "degree Celsius" is "°C". So, for example, one would state a
normal human body temperature of 37 °C. A common error in public writing
is to put the space between the raised circle and the uppercase C, but
you at least do not do that. Rather, your error is to omit the space
altogether.
The metric system and rules on its usage are not open to personal
stylistic persuasion. They are set by the CIPM (assisted by the BIPM)
per international treaty. IUPAC, IUPAP, and many other organizations
cooperate on this effort.
The rule on this is in section 5.3.3 at
http://www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/chapter5/5-3-2.html
or more fully in the PDF (unabridged) version at
http://www.bipm.org/utils/common/pdf/si_brochure_8_en.pdf
using the same section number, 5.3.3.
If you are concerned about inopportune word wrapping at the end of a
line, you may make that space a non-breaking space, perhaps a thin one.
That of course is an option for expressions involving any unit. (In HTML
use the nbsp tag.)
Hopefully at least some of our nation's science teachers are trying to
teach their students how to use the metric system correctly. Your
compliance with the above rule would be helpful to them. As a retired
teacher, I assure you that it is hard to convince a student that AAAS's
Science magazine is incorrect, even when the student sees the definitive
documents specifying proper usage.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
regards,
Jim Frysinger
--
James R. Frysinger
632 Stony Point Mountain Road
Doyle, TN 38559-3030
(H) 931.657.3107
(C) 931.212.0267
