The world needs another SI unit

The International System of Units (SI), defines the meter as the basic unit of length, but perhaps the Smoot would be preferable.

Fifty years ago this week, the world added another basic measurement to a long list of measurements: the Smoot. Named for Oliver Smoot, the unit defines the length of the Massachusetts Ave. Bridge, which runs from MIT on the Cambridge side of the Charles River to Boston. On a cold night in 1958 several of Smoot’s fraternity brothers used him to mark the length of the bridge. When the bridge was rebuilt is was remarked in smoots. Read about the Smoot and the ceremony marking its 50th anniversary.