We should have stuck with Cubits. Much more sensible.
'The book told me that the Cubit was once a specific linear measure of 18.24 inches, not the average length of an Egyptian forearm as we are taught. From where had she got this two decimal point information? Was there anything particularly significant about 18.24? A pocket calculator soon told me. One Radian, 57.3 degrees divided by one Cubit = 3.141, Pi. Now that is very significant; a connection between an ancient measure and geometrical reality. Remember that Pi is supposed to have been 'discovered' by the Greeks, after hundreds of years of research.
But how far did this connection go? One relationship clearly existed but was there any other connection, such as linear measures.
For navigational purposes the Earth is divided into 360 degrees with each degree divided into 60 minutes, and each minute divided into sixty seconds.
One minute of arc, from the centre of the earth, is 6,080 of today's feet, or 72,960 inches. 72,960 divided by 18.24 = 4,000. So a minute of arc is the clumsy number of 6,080 feet, or exactly 4,000 Cubits'.
Boom boom.