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abbreviation referred to one genus or the other.

SI Units

Appendix 5 gives the abbreviations for the prefixes used with all SI (Système International) units. The SI units and
symbols, and certain derived SI units, have become part of the language of science. This modern metric system should
be mastered by all students of the sciences. Scientific Style and Format (Style Manual Committee, Council of Biology
Editors, 1994) is a good source for more complete information, as is Huth's (1987) Medical Style & Format.

Briefly, SI units include three classes of units: base units, supplementary units, and derived units. The seven base
units that form the foundation of SI are the meter, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, mole, and candela. In addition to
these seven base units, there are two supplementary units for plane and solid angles: the radian and steradian,
respectively. Derived units are expressed algebraically in terms of base units or supplementary units. For some of the
derived SI units, special

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names and symbols exist. (The SI units are "metre" and "litre"; the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
followed by the American Chemical Society and a number of other publishers, is tenaciously retaining the traditional
American spellings, "meter" and ''liter.")

Other Abbreviations

Appendix 6 provides a list of acceptable abbreviations that are now considered to be standard. Most of them are from
the CBE Style Manual or from The ACS Style Guide (Dodd, 1997). Use these abbreviations when necessary. Avoid
most others. Those that you use should be introduced as carefully as you would introduce royalty.

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