Nautical mile 1 sea mile", followed by "For most practical purposes distance is measured from the latitude scale, assuming that one minute of latitude equals one nautical mile". One tenth of a nautical mile is a cable length. The derived unit of speed is the knot, defined as one nautical mile per hour. The metre was originally defined as of the meridian arc from the North pole to the equator passing through Dunkirk. The Earth’s circumference is therefore approximately 40,000 km. The equatorial circumference is slightly longer than the polar circumference – the measurement based on this (40,075.017 km x x =
System of measurement chains, furlongs, miles, nautical miles, stadia, leagues, with conversion factors which were not powers of ten. Such arrangements were satisfactory in their own contexts. The preference for a more universal and consistent system (based on more rational base units) only gradually spread with the growth of science. Changing a measurement system has substantial financial and cultural costs which must be offset against the advantages to be obtained from using a more rational system. However pressure built up, including from scientists and engineers for conversion to a more rational, and also internationally consistent, basis of measurement. In antiquity, "systems of measurement"