{{Short description|Nonstandard, humorous unit of length}} {{about|the nonstandard unit of measure|other uses|Smoot (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox unit | image = Terminal smoot mark on Harvard Bridge, Boston 2024-07-15.jpg | caption = "364.4 smoots ± 1 ear" painted on the Harvard Bridge sidewalk in Cambridge, Massachusetts | units1 = imperial/US units | inunits1 = 5 ft 7 in | units2 = SI units | inunits2 = {{convert|5|ft|7|in|m|disp=out|lk=on|sigfig=5}} | namedafter = Oliver R. Smoot }}
The '''smoot''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|m|uː|t}} is a nonstandard, humorous unit of length created as part of an MIT fraternity pledge to Lambda Chi Alpha by Oliver R. Smoot, who in October 1958 lay down<!-- Note use "lay down" because "laid down" would be for putting down another object, not himself --> repeatedly on the Harvard Bridge between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, so that his fraternity brothers could use his height to measure the length of the bridge.<ref name="Curran_2005">{{cite web |last1=Curran |first1=Susan |date=December 19, 2005 |title=Smoot makes his mark in standards and measurements |url=http://web.mit.edu/spotlight/smoot-salute/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620132448/http://www.mit.edu/spotlight/smoot-salute/ |archive-date=June 20, 2015 |access-date=August 13, 2015 |website=Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}</ref>
==Description== One smoot is equal to Oliver Smoot's height at the time of the pledge, {{convert|5|ft|7|in|m|sigfig=5}}. The bridge's length was measured to be {{convert|364.4|sm|ft m}} "± 1 εar" with the "±" showing measurement uncertainty and "ear" spelled with an epsilon to further indicate possible error in the measurement.<ref name="Durant_2008">{{cite web |last=Durant |first=Elizabeth |date=June 23, 2008 |title=Smoot's Legacy |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2008/06/23/219971/smoots-legacy/ |work=MIT Technology Review |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=September 16, 2020 |archive-date=October 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001124959/https://www.technologyreview.com/2008/06/23/219971/smoots-legacy/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Tavernor_2007">{{cite book |last=Tavernor |first=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/smootsearmeasure0000tave |title=Smoot's Ear: The Measure of Humanity |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-300-12492-7 |pages=xi–xvi |contribution=Preface |url-access=registration}}</ref> Over the years the "±" portion and "ε" spelling have been left out in many citations, including some markings at the site itself, but the "±" is recorded on a 50th-anniversary plaque at the end of the bridge.<ref name="stone">{{cite web |date=June 4, 2009 |title=Smoot in Stone |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/smoot-0604.html |access-date=July 20, 2010 |work=MIT News |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |quote=Specifically noting the bridge's length of 364.4 Smoots (+/− 1 ear), the plaque, a gift of the MIT Class of 1962, honors the prank's 50th anniversary. |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |archive-date=April 11, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110411064459/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/smoot-0604.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Clear}}
==History== {{Further|Oliver R. Smoot}} [[File:Harvard Bridge Smoot plaque.jpg|thumb|A plaque on Harvard Bridge on the history of the smoot]] Oliver R. Smoot was selected by his Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity pledgemaster because he was deemed shortest—which made measuring the bridge the most labor-intensive—and he was the "most scientifically named."<ref name="Durant_2008" /><ref name="Gillooly_2008">{{Cite web |last=Gillooly |first=Patrick |date=September 24, 2008 |title=Smoot reflects on his measurement feat as 50th anniversary nears |url=https://news.mit.edu/2008/smoot-tt0924 |access-date=September 25, 2024 |website=MIT News |language=en |archive-date=September 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240914215704/https://news.mit.edu/2008/smoot-tt0924 |url-status=live }}</ref> Smoot repeatedly lay down on the bridge, let his companions mark his new position in chalk or paint, and then got up again. Eventually, he wearied of the exercise and was carried thereafter by the fraternity brothers to each new position.<ref name="Kostoulas_1999">{{cite web |last=Kostoulas |first=Andy |date=October 12, 1999 |title=This Month In MIT History |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N49/this_week-_49_c.49f.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504192700/http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N49/this_week-_49_c.49f.html |archive-date=May 4, 2009 |access-date=April 18, 2009 |work=The Tech}}</ref><ref name="mitday">{{Cite web |date=October 4, 2008 |title=MIT Celebrates 50th Smoot-aversary with Party, Volunteerism, & Plaque |url=http://web.mit.edu/smoot/ |access-date=September 25, 2024 |website=MIT |archive-date=October 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021222548/http://web.mit.edu/smoot/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Smoot graduated from MIT in 1962, and then attended Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., where he obtained his Juris Doctor. He served as chairman of the American National Standards Institute from 2001 to 2002,<ref>{{cite web |title=Speakers Bureau: Oliver R. Smoot |url=https://www.ansi.org/other_services/speakers_bureau/smoot.aspx?menuid=10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030222102511/https://www.ansi.org/other_services/speakers_bureau/smoot.aspx?menuid=10 |archive-date=February 22, 2003 |access-date=July 10, 2020 |website=American National Standards Institute}}</ref> and then as president of the International Organization for Standardization from 2003 to 2004.<ref name="Curran_2005" /><ref>{{cite web |date=February 26, 2003 |title=ANSI Reception Honoring Oliver R. Smoot as ISO President |url=https://share.ansi.org/shared%20documents/News%20and%20Publications/Speeches/Congressional%20Reception%20-%2002-26-03-final%20remarks.pdf |website=American National Standards Institute |access-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112203807/https://share.ansi.org/shared%20documents/News%20and%20Publications/Speeches/Congressional%20Reception%20-%2002-26-03-final%20remarks.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
Public knowledge and interest in the story began when ''Holiday'' investigated the marks on the bridge years later, and published an interview with Smoot.<ref name="Gillooly_2008" /> The prank's fiftieth anniversary was commemorated on October 4, 2008, as Smoot Celebration Day at MIT, which Smoot attended.<ref name=mitday />
A 2016 April Fools' Day article by the MIT Alumni Association announced that MIT would recalibrate the smoot to {{convert|65.7500|in|m|5}} and the ear to {{convert|2.48031|in|mm|6}}, and the bridge would thus be 372 smoots, give or take 11 ears.<ref name="London_2016">{{cite web |last=London |first=Jay |date=April 1, 2016 |title=MIT to Recalibrate the Smoot |url=https://alum.mit.edu/slice/mit-recalibrate-smoot |access-date=July 10, 2020 |website=MIT Alumni Association |department=Slice of MIT |archive-date=July 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711011226/https://alum.mit.edu/slice/mit-recalibrate-smoot |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:100Smoots.jpg|thumb|100-smoot mark with the Charles River and Cambridge, Massachusetts in the background]] On May 7, 2016, Smoot served as grand marshal of the alumni parade across the bridge, celebrating the 100th anniversary of MIT's move from Boston to Cambridge.<ref name="Fleming_2016">{{cite news |last=Fleming |first=Nicole |date=May 7, 2016 |title=By land and by water, MIT celebrates 100 years in Cambridge |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2016/05/07/mit-celebrate-century-cambridge-today/yArGeYQ1dr5NDfsVR3MimO/story.html |access-date=May 9, 2016 |work=Boston Globe}}</ref>
==Practical use== The bridge is marked with painted markings indicating how many smoots there are from where the sidewalk begins on the Charles River bank in Boston, with a number every ten smoots.<ref name="museum">{{cite web |title=MIT Trivia: Harvard Bridge |url=http://web.mit.edu/museum/fun/smoots.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970806205154/http://web.mit.edu/museum/fun/smoots.html |archive-date=August 6, 1997 |access-date=July 10, 2020 |website=MIT Museum}}</ref> The marks were repainted each semester by the incoming associate member class (similar to pledge class) of Lambda Chi Alpha before they were suspended due to repeated infractions of MIT's alcohol rules.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 30, 2014 |title=Lambda Chi Alpha national suspends MIT chapter for at least five years |url=https://news.mit.edu/2014/lambda-chi-alpha-national-suspends-mit-chapter-1030 |website=MIT News |access-date=January 3, 2024 |archive-date=January 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103053954/https://news.mit.edu/2014/lambda-chi-alpha-national-suspends-mit-chapter-1030 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hess |first=Austin |date=October 31, 2014 |title=LCA banned five years, brothers move out Sunday |url=https://thetech.com/2014/10/31/lca-v134-n51 |website=The Tech |access-date=January 3, 2024 |archive-date=January 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103053909/https://thetech.com/2014/10/31/lca-v134-n51 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="haer3">{{cite web |author=Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) |year=1987 |title=Harvard Bridge, Spanning Charles River at Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Suffolk County, MA |url=https://loc.gov/pictures/item/ma1293/ |access-date=May 12, 2009 |publisher=Department of the Interior |page=5 |location=Philadelphia |archive-date=October 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012111948/http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ma1293/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Lambda Chi Alpha alumni, along with current students of MIT, have maintained the markings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 27, 2023 |title=Repainting the Smoots |url=https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/repainting-the-smoots/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |website=MIT Admissions |language=en-US |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229174049/https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/repainting-the-smoots/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=<!--staff byline--> |date=September 20, 2021 |title=Uncovering The 'Smoots' on Harvard Bridge |url=https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/uncovering-the-smoots-on-harvard-bridge/2494759/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |website=NBC Boston |language=en-US |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229174049/https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/uncovering-the-smoots-on-harvard-bridge/2494759/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
thumb|"HALF WAY TO HELL" and an arrow pointing towards MIT. Markings typically appear every {{convert|10|smoot|ft m}}, but additional marks appear at other numbers in between. For example, the {{convert|70|smoot|ft m|adj=on}} mark is accompanied by a mark for 69. The {{convert|182.2|smoot|ftin m|adj=on}} mark is accompanied by the words "Halfway to Hell" and an arrow pointing towards MIT.
The markings are recognized as milestones on the bridge, to the degree that during bridge renovations in the 1980s, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, police department requested that the markings be restored, since they were routinely used in police reports to identify locations on the bridge. The renovators at the Massachusetts Highway Department also scored the concrete surface of the sidewalk on the bridge at {{convert|5|ft|7|in|m|adj=on}} intervals instead of the conventional {{convert|6|ft|m|2}}.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fahrenthold |first=David A. |title=The Measure of This Man Is in the Smoot |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/07/AR2005120702328_pf.html |access-date=May 23, 2010 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-date=November 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108224930/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/07/AR2005120702328_pf.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The Lambda Zeta (MIT) chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha, which created the smoot markings, continues to repaint the markings once or twice per year.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brehm |first=Denise |date=September 1, 1999 |title=Keyser describes his top five hacks |url=https://news.mit.edu/1999/hacks-0901 |website=MIT News |access-date=March 18, 2021 |archive-date=April 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419090652/https://news.mit.edu/1999/hacks-0901 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Starting in 2011, Google Earth enabled the ability to measure distance using smoots, with the standard length of 5 feet 7 inches.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Neer |first=Bob |date=October 10, 2011 |title=Google Earth backs Smoots as measurement standard |url=https://bluemassgroup.com/2011/10/google-earth-backs-smoots-as-measurement-standard/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203192743/http://bluemassgroup.com/2011/10/google-earth-backs-smoots-as-measurement-standard/ |archive-date=December 3, 2022 |access-date=April 16, 2022 |website=Blue Mass Group |language=en-US}}</ref> The calculator function of Google Search also provides values in smoots,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Arthur |first1=Benjamin |last2=Krulwich |first2=Robert |date=October 5, 2011 |title=What's a Smoot |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/10/05/141009438/whats-a-smoot |accessdate=February 9, 2025 |work=NPR |department=Krulwich Wonders |archive-date=January 19, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119103534/https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/10/05/141009438/whats-a-smoot |url-status=live }}</ref> and in 2011, smoot was one of the 10,000 new words added to the fifth edition of ''The American Heritage Dictionary''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cornish |first=Audie |date=November 13, 2011 |title=Looking Up Words In A Book Not So Strange Yet |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/11/13/142284657/looking-up-words-in-a-book-not-so-strange-yet |access-date=December 10, 2012 |work=NPR |archive-date=March 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313195752/http://www.npr.org/2011/11/13/142284657/looking-up-words-in-a-book-not-so-strange-yet |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite dictionary |title=smoot |dictionary=American Heritage Dictionary |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company |url=http://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=smoot&submit.x=47&submit.y=23 |access-date=December 10, 2012 |archive-date=May 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512223028/http://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=smoot&submit.x=47&submit.y=23 |url-status=live }}</ref> Robert Tavernor's book covering the history of measurement is titled ''Smoot's Ear: The Measure of Humanity''.<ref name="Tavernor_2007"/> MIT's student-run college radio station WMBR gives its broadcasting wavelength as {{convert|2|smoot|m|4|spell=in}}, closely approximating {{convert|88.1|MHz|m|4|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite tweet |number=874778755885084673 |user=wacnt |title=W{{!}}A can: WMBR frequency * smoot / speed of light |author=Wolfram{{!}}Alpha Can't |date=June 13, 2017}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Massachusetts|United States}} * List of unusual units of measurement
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Harvard Bridge Smoot measurements}} * [https://aether.lbl.gov/www/personnel/smoot/smoot-measure.html The smoot as a unit of length] *{{cite web |title=smoot |url=https://www.sizes.com/units/smoot.htm |access-date=July 8, 2010 |publisher=Sizes.com}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130731220025/http://lambda-chi.mit.edu/History.aspx#smoots The Smoot story, in Oliver Smoot's own words] * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970806205154/http://web.mit.edu/museum/fun/smoots.html |date=August 6, 1997 |title=MIT Museum article, with photos}} * [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5043041 A December, 2005 National Public Radio Interview with Oliver Smoot upon his retirement]
{{Portal bar|Science|Engineering|Technology|Massachusetts|United States}} {{MIT}} {{authority control}}
Category:1958 introductions Category:Eponyms Category:Human-based units of measurement Category:Lambda Chi Alpha Category:Culture of Massachusetts Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology student life Category:Units of length Category:University folklore Category:Fraternity and sorority culture