Well, a nautical mile is defined relative to a fundamental constant -- the circumference of the earth at the equator. This is objectively useful when at sea, an

Well, a nautical mile is defined relative to a fundamental constant -- the circumference of the earth at the equator. This is objectively useful when at sea, and so I, for one, prefer it to either statute miles or kilometers. Here in Norway, people tend to talk about wind speed in meters per second. Happily, a knot is very close to a half a meter per second, so I'm not as lost as I'd be otherwise.