milli & micro etc

["Björn Cedervall" <bjorn_cedervall@hotmail.com>]

With regard to the little discussion about 10 days ago about
whether a message referred to milli ord micro, I suggest that
whenever these are used they are spelled out. For "milli" the
first time it is used (and then units like "mSv" may follow
unless there still is a remaining risk for misunderstanding).

For microsievert etc, the Greek letter mu should not be used
at all in electronic communication - it is safer to spell it
out. The reason is that the Greek "micro" sometimes is lost
in the transfer from one electronic document to the next.
Take the font "Symbol" for instance. I have seen a number
of times how the Greek does not come back after an intermediate
step with out "Symbol". Even if you are aware of the problem
and happen to be the author - you may still miss it. For the
reader it is even worse. I also daily see the font problem
depending on which browser you are using - or depending on which
type of computer the document was created. Sometimes characters
transferred from say an 8-bit world to a 7-bit world are not
even translated but instead just lost in the transfer. Another
example that English speaking people may not be aware of is
the "angstrom" symbol which correctly spelled is "A" with a
circle above it. From previous experience, I know that at least
seven or eight different things can happen with such a character
when it is read in the U.S. One of the worst is when several
characters that have one meaning become false positives.

Best regards,

bjorn_cedervall@hotmail.com
Depts. Medical Radiation Biology & Medical Radiation Physics,
Karolinska Institutet, Box 260,
S-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden
Ph/fax: Int + 468 343525 (Med. Radiation Physics)
Website: http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/Exchange/8256/


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