esrosedotblog

HOW FAR IS IT TO MIT?

I was almost certain that one of the guys who won the Nobel for Physics is the one that they laid end to end to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge in Cambridge, MA.

This was introduce a new unit of dimension, namely the Smoot.

One Smoot equaled 5' 7"; Mr. Smoot's height.

For many years the bridge had the markings along the walkway. They would be refurbished by the same fraternity to which Mr. Smoot, the layee, belonged.

It must be said that the inaptly named bridge did not go to Harvard but to MIT. It was Massachusetts' Avenue's river crossing.

You would get to Harvard eventually but why bother when the best of the campus lot was right at the other end.

The timing was right. It was right after I left and in the era when campus pranks were still of the very nerdly variety.

Americans Win Nobel Prize in Physics

But, it was not to be. I found the writeup in a Boston tourist guide.

The Smoot who became a unit of measure was Oliver. This NObel guy's name is George.

Now I wonder if they were related.

"Smoots" on the Harvard Bridge
MIT students are world-famous for their brains and creativity, and the invention of the "Smoot" as unit of measure is no exception. In 1958, the pledge class of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity marked the length of the Harvard Bridge (which goes to MIT) using pledge Oliver Smoot as a measuring tool. For the record, Smoot was 5 feet 7 inches tall, and the bridge is 364.4 Smoots (plus an ear) long. The bridge is marked with colored lines to mark every 10 Smoots, and the markers are painted on the sidewalk on the outbound side of the bridge.
Location: Over the Charles River between Back Bay and Cambridge
Public Transportation: Kendall/MIT
Cost and Hours: Free, open 24 hours/day