smoot

smoot
   a humorous unit of distance invented in 1958 by a fraternity at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The fraternity pledges of Lambda Chi Alpha measured the length of Harvard Bridge using pledge Oliver R. Smoot ('62). According to Smoot himself, the bridge turned out to be 364.4 smoots long "plus epsilon," but this has been recorded as 364.4 smoots "plus an ear." The bridge is still marked in smoots. Proposals to change the definition of the unit by remeasuring it with Smoot's son Steve (MIT '89) or daughter Sherry ('99) were rebuffed. One smoot equals 67 inches (170.18 centimeters). Oliver Smoot became an attorney but continued his interest in standards and measurement. He is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and he was President of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2003-04.

Dictionary of units of measurement. 2015.

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  • smoot — (smo͞ot) n. ▸ A unit of measurement equal to five feet, seven inches (1.7018 meters), often cited when discussing the inherent arbitrariness of measurement units. ╂ [After Oliver Smoot, Jr. (born 1940), whose height was used as the basis for the… …   Word Histories

  • Smoot — Smoot, WY U.S. Census Designated Place in Wyoming Population (2000): 182 Housing Units (2000): 63 Land area (2000): 1.710751 sq. miles (4.430824 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.710751 sq. miles …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Smoot, WY — U.S. Census Designated Place in Wyoming Population (2000): 182 Housing Units (2000): 63 Land area (2000): 1.710751 sq. miles (4.430824 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.710751 sq. miles (4.430824 …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Smoot — The smoot is a nonstandard unit of length created as part of an MIT fraternity prank. It is named after Oliver R. Smoot (class of 1962), a fraternity pledge to Lambda Chi Alpha, who in October 1958 was used by his fraternity brothers to measure… …   Wikipedia

  • Smoot — Vue du Harvard Bridge, en regardant vers Boston. Le smoot unité de longueur inhabituelle, créée de façon humoristique par des étudiants du MIT. Elle porte le nom d Oliver R. Smoot, un étudiant de l université, qui s allongea en octobre 1958 sur… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Smoot — Blick auf das MIT, mit der 260 Smoot Marke Smoot ist eine nichtstandardgemäße Maßeinheit, die aus einem Spaß einer Studentenverbindung entstanden ist. Benannt ist die Einheit nach Oliver R. Smoot, der im Oktober 1958 anlässlich eines… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Smoot (disambiguation) — Smoot may refer to:Things* A smoot, a jocular unit of measurement equal to 5 feet, 7 inches. * Smoot is a Web based tool for creating diagrams of icons and links between them.Fact|date=April 2008 * A smoot is a hole built into a wall to allow… …   Wikipedia

  • Smoot (Wyoming) — Smoot Lugar designado por el censo de los Estados Unidos Ubicación en el condad …   Wikipedia Español

  • Smoot (Begriffsklärung) — Smoot ist der Name einer Maßeinheit, siehe Smoot und ist der Name von folgenden Personen George F. Smoot (* 1945), US amerikanischer Astrophysiker und Nobelpreisträger Reed Smoot (1862–1941), US amerikanischer Politiker Reed Smoot (Kameramann),… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Smoot, West Virginia — Smoot is an unincorporated community in western Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. It lies south of the interchange of Interstate 64 and U.S. Route 60 northwest of the city of Lewisburg, the county seat of Greenbrier County. [Rand… …   Wikipedia

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