[time-nuts] establishing your position w/o gps

[J. Forster]

Then, as now, a knot is a unit of speed, not distance! If you counted 7
knots in a standard song, it was still speed.

-John

==============


> On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 10:31 AM, J. Forster <jfor at quikus.com> wrote:
>
>> Nope. A knot is a unit of velocity, not didtance.
>>
>>  A "knot" is 1 nautical mile per hour
>>  A nautical mile is that distance, subtended at the earth's surface at
the equator, by 1 arc-minute.
>>
>> If somebody tells you the ship was going "22 knots/hour" they don't
know what they are talking about. A knot/hour is an acceleration.
>
> You are using modern terminology.   In the days when they tossed a real
log overboard and measured time by singing a song.  Issac Newton was
still 100+ years in the future and no one new calculus or what
"acceleration" was.  Most sailors could not count to 100 out load and
many could not even write their own name.    I doubt they used the terms
as precisely as we do now.   History seems to only teach us about the
top tier, the Royal Navy and their educated officers and the explorers
like Cook and Magellan.   Most were not nearly at that level of
competence.  Most captains followed "cook book"  like directions and did
not understand the theory.
>
>
> Chris Albertson
> Redondo Beach, California
>
>