title: Parse String into Number
body: <p>I have a list which will store <a href="http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.4.2/docs/api/java/lang/Number.html">Number</a> objects. The list will be populated by parsing a list of strings, where each string may represent any subclass of Number.</p>
  
  <p>How do I parse a string to a generic number, rather than something specific like an integer or float?</p>