title: How can I manage units in pandas data?
body: <p>I'm trying to figure out if there is a good way to manage <em>units</em> in my pandas data. For example, I have a <code>DataFrame</code> that looks like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>   length (m)  width (m)  thickness (cm)
  0         1.2        3.4             5.6
  1         7.8        9.0             1.2
  2         3.4        5.6             7.8
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Currently, the measurement units are encoded in column names. Downsides include:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>column selection is awkward -- <code>df['width (m)']</code> vs. <code>df['width']</code></li>
  <li>things will likely break if the units of my source data change</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>If I wanted to strip the units out of the column names, is there somewhere else that the information could be stored?</p>