Split infinitive

Reading an American novel, I came across  “.9 moon”. I guess it has something to do with the lunar phases but I do not know how to pronounce it.  Another question: still in the same book I found  a lot of ” to not + base form” ; is it an Americanism? In English one usually puts the not before the infinitive.  “To be or not to be?” That is the question. Thanks a lot. Carla

The correct way to say 0.9 is point nine. 

Grammar purists are horrified by the split infinitive but, as Harry Ritchie explains in his excellent book, English for the Natives, this horror is undeserved. Ritchie tells us that an eccentric Victorian grammarian decided that the split infinitive was an abomination and so generations of schoolchildren were punished for using it, but nowadays it’s OK.
To see an interview with Harry Ritchie, click here: http://www.speakuponline.it/show-video/471?as=page