Python, ValueError: could not convert string to float:
<p>My script is picking up a string when it should not, I get </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>ValueError: could not convert string to float: for line <code>list_col.append(float(row[c].strip('"')))</code> in the code below </p>
</blockquote>

<pre><code> with open(fileTwoName) as f:

    reader = csv.reader(f, delimiter=",")
    fileTwoColumnNames = next(reader)
    output_column .extend(fileTwoColumnNames[2:-1])
    number_of_columns = len(fileTwoColumnNames)-2


    for c in range(2,number_of_columns+2):
        list_col = []
        f.seek(1)
        next(reader)
        for row in reader:
            list_col.append(float(row[c].strip('"'))) 

        list_col_name_wise = []
        for k in range(0, len(number_eng)):
            list_col_name_wise.append(sum(list_col[start_row[k] - 1:start_row[k] - 1 + 1- total_case [k]]))
        data.append(list_col_name_wise)
</code></pre>

<p>I tested it by adding </p>

<pre><code>if list_col == str:
    list_col.append(float(row[c].strip('"'))) ` 
</code></pre>

<p>everything outputs ok but I need my <code>data</code> list to output as a float. Is there a way for me to account for both a str and float?</p>