fig, ax1 = plt.subplots() ax1.plot( x, y1, 'b') ax1.set_ylim([y1min,y1max]) ax2 = ax1.twinx() ax2.plot(x, y2, 'r') ax2.ticklabel_format(axis='y', style='sci', scilimits=(-2,2)) ax2.set_ylim([y2min,y2max]) fig.tight_layout() plt.show()