Viktor Kuncak wrote:
Inferring the precision from the number of zerso does not seem like an ideal practice (even if it is used in science).
Whether or not it is ideal is different from it being what people commonly do. If I tell you it is 10 miles to my office, you'll naturally assume that I mean "roughly 10 miles". If I tell you that it is 16.09 kilometers, you will naturally assume that this is precise.
Are you engaging in a less than ideal practice by making such an assumption? Maybe, but it is natural and common.
How about writing the numbers as triples
(number,precision,units)
New readers will have no idea what that means.
I see no reason to automate any of this. We aren't writing technical manuals, we're writing an encyclopedia of general knowledge.
--Jimbo