NIST Colloquium Series: The Quest to Measure Longitude
Dava Sobel, a novelist of popular expositions on scientific topics, has published works such as Longitude: The True Story of a Long Einstein Who ...
Liverpool Echo letters, August 16 2011
EUROPE officially sanctioned Britain’s use of lofty measurements in 2007. Repeated surveys show that over 90% of British people choose imperial over metric because unlike metric, it can be scaled up or down by any amount visually or instantly in the main without the need for a calculator.
Based on a scale of two, it evolved over centuries for every common purpose, is infinitely flexible and has assessment units identifiable with daily usage spaced according to life’s most frequent needs.
By kinship, metric is based on 10 and the resulting limitations pose major drawbacks in daily application. It is very unadaptable being horrible to scale up or down (unless by 10) and permanently involves high numbers and long decimal fractions tough to memorise, much less work with.
International law dictates feet be used in aviation heights and altitudes (flight levels are in feet) and in sea depths and that sea and air distances be in nautical miles with facilitate in nautical miles per hour (knots). British people regularly choose pounds weight over unimaginable kilos and gallons over litres (that convey itsy-bitsy). Our motoring is measured in miles per hour or miles per gallon.
Why are nautical miles commonly used for navigation measurements?
nautical miles is another name for a measure of latitude. Traditionally, the world was divided into degrees and minutes (and seconds).
nautical miles is another name for a stage of latitude. Traditionally, the world was divided into degrees and minutes (and seconds).
nautical measurements - Bookshelf
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372 pages |
Map use & analysis Nautical Measurements Another element of complexity in linear measurements is that the nautical mile used for measuring distances at sea is different from the statute mile used on land. The original reason for this was navigational ... |
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About this book This book is designed to serve as an introduction to the fascinating world of maps. It explains how to use maps to obtain information about a wide variety of topics. Throughout the book, maps are viewed in a broad framework. Thus, the discussion includes mental maps, aerial photographs, remotely sensed images, computer-assisted cartography, and geographical information systems, in addition to traditional printed maps. The writing style is neither formalistic nor casual, with an emphasis on clarity of explanation. The discussions assume that the reader has no specific prior knowledge of the topic, so that even novice map users can understand and use the information and techniques presented. |
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355 pages |
The sea chest, a yachtsman's reader Nautical Measurements Like the metric system, nautical measurements have an ... All nautical measurements are based on the "Parallel of Latitude" and the " Meridian of Longitude." A Parallel of Latitude is an imaginary circle drawn round ... |
