VC>>> In the UK thanks to the EU we had to switch to metric in al most VC>>> all things but luckily for distances still in miles both statue VC>>> and nautical.
>> Why "luckily" still miles (in two flavours) for distances?
VC> Normal distances as statute - i.e., 5280 against nautical / marine VC> 6076. Above Statute mile is not for Scotland which is around 600 feet VC> longer or was. Saying that, I think they use the UK standard but I VC> would not bet the farm on it :)
Nautical miles, Statute miles, Scottish miles. What a mess... Why not use kilometers like (most of) the rest of the world?
I do not know the original definition of the Statute mile, but the nautical mile is one arc minute on the equator. It was Napoleon that defined the km as 1/40000 part of the equator. Or 1/100 of a Grad. A Grad is 1/100 of a straight angle. The kilogram and the kilometre are in wide spread use. But the Grad on which they are ultimately based did not make it into common use. That was a bridge too far for Napoleon.
Metric time was two bridges too far. 10^5 "seconds" in a day. 10 "Hour" in a day. 100 "Mimutes" in an "Hour". 100 "Seconds" in a "Minute". That "Second" would be about 0.86 second. Two, or maybe three bridges too far. No metric clock..
