The Smoot is a unit of length, defined as the height in 1958 of Oliver R. Smoot, who later became the Chairman of the American National Standard Institute (ANSI, and then the president of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The unit is used to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge. Originally in 1958 when Smoot was a Lambda Chi Alpha pledge at MIT (class of 1962), the bridge was measured to be 364.4 Smoots, plus or minus one ear, using Mr. Smoot himself as a ruler. At the time, Smoot was 5 feet, 7 inches, Β or 170cm tall.Β Google Earth and Calculator both include the smoot as a unit of measurement.
The Cambridge, Mass. police department adopted the convention of using Smoots to measure the locations of accidents and incidents on the bridge. When the original markings were removed or covered over during bridge maintenance, the police had to request that someone reapply the Smoot scale markings.Β During a major bridge rebuild, the concrete sidewalk was permanently divided into segments one Smoot in length, as opposed to the regular division of six feet.
i’d love to have measurement named after me –
how many ‘peaches’ equal the length of a subaru?
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“measure what can be measured, and make measurable what cannot be measured.”
-galileo galilei
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photo credits: MIT alum
Now that is what I call leaving your mark on the world! Great post, Beth. I had never heard this story before.
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right, literally! you know i love to share interesting facts and stories, some i can’t resist –
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I’m three and half inches shorter than a a smoot …. I suppose that makes me a “little smoot”
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perfect
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Love these stories, Beth. Such a refreshing break from the “news”. Love the quote, too. Thank you.
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there are many happy stories out there and i love to share them, we all get bombarded and fatigued with so much negativity
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Intereseting, well I am over a smoot tall then. π
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here’s to you, ute, smoot and all
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I don’t know about ‘smoots’ but my mother and her generation had a unit of time called ‘a jiff’, an undefined length but usually used in the term, ‘I’ll be there in a jiff’ π origin unknown π
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yes, i grew up with that too! it means really soon, but subject to personal interpretation )
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Hahaha! That’s amazing that everybody adopted it.
“measure what can be measured, and make measurable what cannot be measured.”
βThat’s what she said ππ π€
Man what a burn πππ³
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ha!
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I have a favorite photo of my husband and me on the Smoot Bridge when visiting our older child when they lived in Cambridge, MA.
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oh, that’s amazing –
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good one beth! β€
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I loved the backstory
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Fascinating facts.
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))
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Just love this story: refreshingly bonkers in a world crushed by too much common sense :)!
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Yes,and these are my favorite kind of stories
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Now I know, thanks to you, Beth. Itβs amazing that the guy who gave the bridge its singular Smoot measurement went on to oversee the highest organization of national standardization. You really canβt make this stuff up.
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Incredibly amazing and out there .) I love this kind of thing
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This is fascinating, Beth! I bet my Subaru is the perfect peaches long. Thank you for always being a breath of fresh air. π
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Always my pleasure
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π€π
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I almost married a guy with the last name of Smoot.
But Lady Smoot didn’t sound too appealing. A bit too snooty.
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He could take your name!
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My last name is unpronounceable. π¦
One of those beautiful names that end in ian.
My husband says I don’t say it right. π
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Hahaha I love this
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I love this! And the faces of everyone measuring the bridge in Smoots!
And the answer for how long a Subaru is in “Peaches” depends on the make and model of course! My guess would be 3 Peaches, give or take, depending. π
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A great guesstimate-
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I am just over 5’7″ tall, so from now on will be a ‘Smoot’!
Thanks for that, Beth. π
Best wishes, Pete
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Perfect!
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I’m not sure I would like to be a trivia question. But it is interesting information!
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I would love it!
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That is amazing! I think that the first requirement though was to have the right name. Smoot just begs to be named after. It’s possible that it wouldn’t have caught on so well if his name was Johnson for example…
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So true!! )))
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Oh, what fun!
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Great fun!
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I wonder how much beer was involved before deciding to use Mr. Smoot to measure the length of the bridge…
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Yes, no doubt part of the equation
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π
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I just learned something new today. Smoot. What an interesting story.
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I thought so too
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Delightful story, Beth. I dunno where you find stuff like this, but it sure is fun.
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Itβs all around us in the world and I just read everything and find these kind of things fascinating
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Very cool. I needed a reason to love humans again. Whacky, apparently, makes me happy.
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I so agree, itβs a bit of eccentric fun
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How do you find such fascinating trivia? Bravo!
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I just read everything and love these kind of things
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I peaked at a fraction over six feet tall. I have shrunk a couple inches already. At least I can now look forward to eventually becoming a smoot.
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Itβs a goal worth aspiring to
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Hmmmm…. I don’t think I agree with Galileo on this one.
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Yes –
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I wonder how we make abstract ideas measurable. When we make abstract visible and solid, it’s not abstract anymore!
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Ooh, deep thought-
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Ahh… will continue to think.
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Now this is something I haven’t known about. Smoot ! That’s amazing
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I think so too)
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Fabulous. So much fun. How many Smoots is a …. will forever be in my mind.
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I know, Iβll never forget it)
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Hahaha. Thatβs an awesome post, Beth. Iβm still reflecting upon how many peaches to equal a Subaru. π
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the reason I chose ‘peaches’ is because it is my nickname, now to do the math I’ll need to go lie next to my car with a team moving me )
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Ah, I see. Please do follow up and let us know how many ‘peaches’ it is exactly. Hehehe. π
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i’ll need to assemble my team…
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I did not know this!
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Always something fun out there to learn)
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Yes!
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To think I spent the first 40 years of my life being a Smoot tall and never knowing it! Now I have shrunk an inch and a half and cannot claim it.
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Heels)
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To reclaim my prior Smootness!
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Right!
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Love that measurement (I have not heard about it before), thank you for sharing! You can create your own scale, share it, and it could very well become a thing for generations to come. Think about Scoville who created the “hotness” measure for peppers… It really can be anything π
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It absolutely can be!
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So interesting! And what an honor for Mr. Smoot!
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I know, how fun and cool both )
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