Smoot
A
smoot is a unit of length used for measuring the
Harvard Bridge. It is named after an
MIT fraternity pledge, Oliver R. Smoot, whose body was used in
1958 to determine the bridge's length. The smoot is equal to five feet and seven inches (
1.70 m), making the bridge 364.4 smoots and one ear. Ironically, this was only the beginning of Smoot's illustrious career in standards and measurement; he later became Chairman of the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and President of the
International Standards Organization (
ISO).
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