Posted a few moments ago. Jim
---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Egregious SI error in Random Samples Date: Saturday 2003 June 14 14:25 From: James Frysinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear editor, I was dumbstruck to see the egregious error relating to the SI in the "Random Samples" column (6 June 2003), edited by Constance Holden. Specifically, the worst error in the article "Sticking With the Gecko" is in the statement "A Newton is 100 grams." The newton is a unit of force, not a unit of mass. Also, a unit name starts with a lowercase letter when spelled out, unless it the first word of a sentence. I could accept the statement "A newton (N) is approximately the weight of a 100 g object near the Earth's surface." The preceding statement in the article, "The forces are tiny---just 1/100 billionths of a Newton", also includes the case error on the unit name but it also expresses the force in a clumsy manner. There is good reason for prefixes in the SI. That statement would be better written as "The forces are tiny---just 0.01 nN" or "The forces are tiny---just 0.01 nanonewtons." Most people---even Americans---are familiar with the prefix nano. In an article aimed at an SI-literate audience, high school graduates for example, I would suggest using "10 pN" or "10 piconewtons" in my suggestions above. This is not the first SI error I have seen in this column, but it is definitely the most blatant, even to a young student. Shame on the American Association for the Advancement of Science for not making sure that their editors are more careful on something so elementary as the SI! James R. Frysinger -- James R. Frysinger Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist Senior Member, IEEE http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Office: Physics Lab Manager, Lecturer Dept. of Physics and Astronomy University/College of Charleston 66 George Street Charleston, SC 29424 843.953.7644 (phone) 843.953.4824 (FAX) Home: 10 Captiva Row Charleston, SC 29407 843.225.0805 -------------------------------------------------------
