[aprssig] Re: Metric [[furlongs per fortnight]]

[Mark Fellhauer]

At 07:13 AM 9/6/2007, Steve Noskowicz wrote:

>Nautical miles are based on an assumption about the
>diameter of the earth, not stars.

Again it amazes me how ignorant people are in their knowledge of history 
and the inability to read a post.  So mister smart guy, how do you measure 
one arc minute while travelling on this planet?  How did a sailor or 
aviator pre-GPS, do that?  How did the Greeks and Romans do that?  How did 
escaped slaves in the U.S. get to Canada?   How did that assumption about 
the diameter of the Earth get made and verified?

You follow a celestial reference point.   Um, that would be a star.

Mark
KC7BXS