Short reference on writing numbers and units What's a quick and useful reference, either in print or online, for writing numbers and reporting measurements in scientific texts? Something I could distribute to all new students, which would cover things they should be taught but do not always know, like:


how to write big/small numbers in scientific form (1.78 10–12), including proper spacing?
how to write units of measurement, in text and in abbreviated form? includes: when do you capitalize units, when do you pluralize them, etc.
how to properly report significant figures, etc.
when do you write variables in italics/roman/bold/underline?
I guess these recommendations by the American Physical Society might be just what you are looking for. In particular, Style and Notation Guide for Physical Review/Physical Review Letters deals with scientific numbers, units, figures/tables, and use of roman/italic fonts. (For some strange reasons, it requires a secured connection to see the file; in case you couldn't see it, there is an excerpt here).