def is_numeric(string):
try:<EOL><INDENT>float(string)<EOL>return True<EOL><DEDENT>except ValueError:<EOL><INDENT>return False<EOL><DEDENT>
Checks if a string is numeric. If the string value is an integer
or a float, return True, otherwise False. Can be used to test 
soley for floats as well. 

Args:
    string: a string to test.

Returns: 
    boolean