The bridge which is measured in smoots

1 smoot = 67 inches = 1.7018 metres
Read more about Oliver Smoot:
alum.mit.edu/news/AlumniNews/...
Google: "speed of light in smoots per second"
www.google.com/search?q=speed...
Wolfram Alpha: "distance to the sun in smoots"
www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i...
CORRECTIONS:
- I accidentally said the speed of light was 1.672 * 10^8 smoots/second when it is actually 1.762, but thankfully the on-screen number is correct.
- At 3:30 I say "over 400" when I mean "almost 400", first spotted by Ryan Thom.
- Many, many people have pointed-out that I pronounced the Greek letter χ "chi" as 'chai' when it should be 'ki'. I apologise for that, but stand by the way I say ε "epsilon".
Support my videos on Patreon and get access to bonus content:
/ standupmaths
Music by Howard Carter
Design by Simon Wright
MATT PARKER: Stand-up Mathematician
Website: standupmaths.com/
Maths book: makeanddo4D.com/
Nerdy maths toys: mathsgear.co.uk/

[@FrancescoBattaglini]

I expect now Oliver Smoots is kept somewhere in France in a glass bell

[@TheMaplestrip]

+

[@12345NOU54321]

Two, just for good measure.

[@willpeters7993]

Francesco Battaglini veritasium?

[@acorn1014]

+

[@Nahtanojrepus]

Francesco Battaglini nah, they have him and seven smoots, identical in height. They're his sister smoots.

[@ze_rubenator]

It suggested "The speed of light in smoots per fortnight." Seems like the most sensible way to measure anything.

[@k_tess]

Ze Rubenator I would rather know that then smoots per second.

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

Ze Rubenator I will make that measurement a constant in my life :)

[@paintingjo6842]

This sounds oddly great

[@PBTophie]

2.131e+14 Smoots per fortnight!

[@Blinkation]

the speed of light = 2.13085531 × 1014 smoots per fortnight

[@rrni2343]

The problem with using the parker as a standard of measurement is for example, if you take the square of 1 parker (or parker^2) you will get something called a parkersquare which is not quite 1 but something close enough.

[@lovexbibi]

thank you for this comment.

[@Tomyb15]

It's 0.999... let the war begin.

[@plumeater1]

dude that's like saying 1 (1.4) + 1 (1.4) = 3 (2.8).

[@svenwouters9547]

Árni and we can't use two parkersquares

[@hart-of-gold]

But the Parkersquare is the only unit to have an error in it by default. So when you add many Parkersquares together you will get something exactly not quite right.

[@GroovingPict]

This feels like one of Tom Scott's "things you might not know" videos

[@sion8]

GroovingPict​​ His fists are in the air cursing Matt's name right about now.

[@irek1394]

When i started reading the title i was sure its a Tom Scotts video :P

[@BlackSwan912]

Got Floyd?

[@QueueWithACapitalQ]

GroovingPict i know

[@austing5951]

They do know each other.

[@tamebeverage]

Why stop here? We can use his as a mass standard and, when he dies, we can use the time between his birth and death as a standard. I propose we call them all smoots, so that we can end up with great units, such as power output being measured in (smoot*smoot^2)/(smoot^3)

[@standupmaths]

+Logan Coen I fully support this idea.

[@CraftQueenJr]

As do I.

[@bamb8s436]

He s currently 80 years old and the life expectancy of a male his age s bout 6.838 years. So 1 nanosmoot = 2.74039887 seconds

[@sebastianjost]

I'm sure with his career he wouldn't approve of that. That would just be cruel. How would you know when you can cancel them and when you can't? Do we have to use red smoots, green smoots and blue smoots?

[@philipwhiuk]

@@sebastianjost Smoot vs SMOOT vs smoot. Using varying capitalisation we can have 2^5 different smoonits ;)

[@daltonlepage7751]

The speed of light is 2.131e+14 smoots per fortnight.

[@elizah9408]

5.555 * 10^15 smoots per year.

[@ambsquared]

5.571 *10^15 smoots per leap year

[@loganstrong5426]

Thank you for your service, sir. I was gonna look that up after the video.

[@doublex85]

213 _microsmoots_ per _megafortnight._

[@imperson1785]

@@doublex85 pretty sure that's 2.13e+26

[@peter_smyth]

I'd love to be Oliver Smoot and be able to answer with complete seriousness and accuracy "one smoot" whenever asked my height.

[@Holobrine]

Peter Smyth Well you are 1 smyth.

[@Kihidokid]

Holobrine would that make you one brine

[@OrangeC7]

Anthony Ingram That would make you one Ingram

[@krashd]

That would make you one Creeper

[@Verbindungsfehle]

Peter Smyth Sry to ruin it, but men can still grow 'till they're 25 and considering he was still a student back then, he might not be 1 smoot tall anymore.

[@mysteryshrimp]

Oliver Smoot has a far less distinguished cousin in the physical sciences. While Oliver has a unit of measure based on his height in the early 60's, his cousin George Smoot has to be satisfied with a mere Nobel Prize in Physics.

[@quinks]

3:19 - "Initially he had to *lie down* on the ground" standupmaths? More like liedownmaths.

[@nikk-named]

I would have spilled my drink if I had one... Luckily I didn't.

[@wolframstahl1263]

Also the speed of light is 17.62 micro-Smoots per Svedberg!

[@wolframstahl1263]

I won't tell you what a Svedberg is, but you should know that 2.029×10^-8 cubic Smoots per Svedberg eqals one Sverdrup. www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=1+sverdrup+in+cubic+smoots+per+svedberg

[@LadyEmilyNyx]

And to pretty much anyone who isn't American.

[@Roonasaur]

And, (if we're being honest) this is what it feels like to Americans too . . .

[@marcelwinklmuller5622]

i love this comment and any comment to this comment. thanks

[@4TheRecord]

Certainly won't have Abibliophobia on this comment section.

[@outsider344]

I was going to comment that my girlfriend is exactly one smoot, But then I had a revelation. We are all a smoot, just some plus or minus an ear.

[@outsider344]

Truly it is the smoot that binds us.

[@czarlito_]

thus you are the smoot pacifist. the smoocifist.

[@opapinguin]

I'm guessing Van Gogh was on the far end of the smoot spectrum?

[@wobblysauce]

And how is it all been measured.. and how think is the marked line.

[@myx5675]

well i am 1 smoot and around 6 ears ... unless you are having really REALLY big EARS ;-P

[@pandabytes4991]

We need to change the speed limits in the US to Smoots/Hour

[@thelatestartosrs]

a kS is almost a mile so it wouldn't be that confusing but very impractical

[@pandabytes4991]

I know it would be impractical, which is why I love the idea.

[@McRaylie]

Why not smoots per fortnight?

[@Nemozoli]

Fortnights are such an obsolete measurement of time... too predictable. We should have smoots per Hail Mary.

[@TeamDragofied]

How about Smoots per moment

[@MrSionPaddy]

6:47 The jogger runs in front of the text. That's some damn good hidden editing.

[@standupmaths]

+Sioni Boii Thank you! Totally worth it for the five people who will notice.

[@Abdega]

standupmaths it's the little details

[@WaterShowsProd]

Drat! I didn't notice, and that's something I often do when editing. Most people wouldn't go near that task with a 10 smoot pole.

[@betaneptune]

Fascinating. :-|

[@FoxDren]

I've watched this multiple times and never noticed that. Which Just goes to show how well it was done.

[@locust76]

1.21 Gigasmoots! Great Scott!

[@BlobVanDam]

1.21 GIGASMOOTS??!

[@medicmain3947]

BlobVanDam WHHHAAAATTT

[@darkxextier]

Actually a "Great Scott" is only 1.16 Smoots...

[@xenontesla122]

I wish they had weighed him too. Then you could get even more weird measurements of stuff. Like the density of water in Smoots per cubic Smoot.

[@TeamDragofied]

the time it took to measure the bridge should be called a Smootdrag

[@fsaczb]

Americans and their weird system of measurements...

[@cmck362]

u so jelly

[@bnipmnaa]

Er... no.

[@cmck362]

denial is not just a river in egypt

[@zegaskmask5659]

We might not go metric but knowing America it just might switch to smoots because its American

[@kurekureci]

you are an idiot...

[@GetOutsideYourself]

Only thing that could have made this video better was a cameo by Smoot himself.

[@jeffiek]

Mr. Smoot goes on to a career in standards. Sounds like a case of being given lemons and making lemonade.

[@jdroo]

I'm 1 Smoot Tall.

[@brianterry8775]

Roo Sames

[@brokenwave6125]

I'm 1.06 Smoots tall

[@RandomDays906]

1.15 Smoot

[@KennethSorling]

Pardon the Guardians of the Galaxy paraphrase, but: Are you Smoot?

[@JianJiaHe]

Same

[@vladutcornel]

mericans and britts-inventing new units of measure just to avoid the metric system

[@2adamast]

By nature they are able to mess up an unit in no time. Thinking of Calories (kcal). Just keep them on Customary/Imperial. The Smoot is also a good example. They used the guy and the guy only 364 times and then took a tape and came up with .4. Add to that the .4 is certainly within the margin of error they didn't even bother to estimate.

[@mzg147]

Adamast 1 ear is a good estimation of an error.

[@2Cerealbox]

Holy shit, I am exactly one smoot.

[@cjoduse95]

No, it's Ryan N

[@connorschmidt4175]

I think you missed the joke.

[@Omni315]

I think this is Patrick.

[@ObjectsInMotion]

I think you're the one who missed the joke connor.

[@andy4an]

I"m very close to being a smoot. i'm definitely a smoot plus or minus an ear.

[@SamGossner]

Fun fact: the bridge also bears a plaque on the other side, dedicated to Harry Houdini, who performed one of his escape acts there in 1908. I used to cross that bridge every week and I spent the whole entire time coming up with what possible acronym SMOOTS could stand for... thank you for answering the question, albeit a few years too late.

[@dalitas]

so how much rain did it rain? in units of smoots per square smoot

[@standupmaths]

+Dalitas D Would you believe: exactly 0.01 smoots of rain. You can check it! I was there 27 Oct 2016: www.bwsc.org/COMMUNITY/rainfall/telog_rainfall/rf_daily.asp

[@dalitas]

Wouldn't it be awesome for more scientists to be used as length metrics, 1 dalitas = 1.1 smoots 1 Einstein = 1.3 smoots 1 parker = × smoots

[@LazyPolymath]

x smoots? Parker Squared it!

[@dalitas]

KraZe Ace well I don't know how tall matt parker is? so finding his height In smoots wasnt possible

[@AtariKafa]

1 AtariKafa = 1987 Meters :D

[@MartinSStoller]

ISO = International Smoot Organisation ???

[@travelinman70]

I'm Smooth, Oliver

[@vojtaliska1430]

Q: What would you like to accomplish in life? A: I want to become a standardized unit.

[@frankrizzo4747]

The smoot by which all others will be measured.

[@slikrx]

Things you may not know, by the wrong Brit... yet the correct Brit.

[@kingxdedede7327]

Yeah, it's a miracle he escaped from the forces of Eurasia, but he got help from Eastasia so yeah, BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.

[@paulkennedy8701]

Yeah, he's not British.

[@SoWhat1221]

+John Johnson *descendant

[@photonicpizza1466]

SoWhat1221 I'm pretty sure he was born in Australia but moved to the UK. I could be wrong, though.

[@SoWhat1221]

Photonic Pizza Did you reply to the wrong person? I was merely pointing out that he would be a descendant, not an ancestor of a Brit. He might very well become both one day, but certainly not now. Ancestor generally refers to someone one step or more above grandparents.

[@martinshoosterman]

2.131*10^14 Smoots per fortnight. Wow. Has there ever been a better measurement of the speed of light? I think not.

[@Cloiss_]

0.983 feet per nanosecond forever!

[@datenegassie]

6:47 You spent effort on making sure the numbers would be behind the runner. Now that's dedication. I wonder how many smoots that runner ran.

[@standupmaths]

+Datenegassie I did that knowing full well how few people would notice. But of those that would: how much they would appreciate.

[@frankrizzo4747]

Wherever he goes, he gets there on smoot.

[@AgglomeratiProduzioni]

I often use the "Obama" as unit of length while joking with my friends. I once gave them appointment in a place and time where the place was indicated by the distance of that point from Athens, London and a small unknown town in Sardinia (with the distances measured in obamas, of course) and the time was indicated by the time passed since the birth of Silvio Berlusconi, measured in difference of age between Prince George and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge.

[@gojoubabee]

Ruben That's amazing.

[@BjrnAsleTaranger]

Cool, but why not throw in that numbers must be expressed in base 3 next time :)

[@MajesticSkywhale]

That makes me want to create a unit of length called the "Clinton" which is 33,000 millimeters, one for each e-mail she deleted to cover up her crimes, and all locations are measured in Clintons, with the distance being compared from Bedford Hills Prison for Women, to wherever the current location is. For example, the White House, which she will never set foot in again, is 13245.3939393939 (repeating of course) Clintons to Bedford Hills

[@MajesticSkywhale]

+Bjørn Asle Taranger also...d-dad? is that you?

[@mwffu2b]

Your Clinton is tiny compared to the Bush which equals 22 million millimeters.

[@sophieward7225]

Last time I was this early, the Riemann Hypothesis was unproven

[@Roshkin]

M.W. Vaughn was it proven?

[@raydarable]

M.W. Vaughn It's proven?

[@PaulPaulPaulson]

Roshkin I proved it, but i will keep the prove secret

[@sophieward7225]

+Roskhin +Raydarable No, but I'm still correct

[@jasanborn9700]

"Almost certainly not" gizmodo.com/sorry-the-riemann-hypothesis-has-almost-certainly-not-1743014788

[@asthmen]

What I don't understand is why the plural of _smoot_ isn't _smeet_.

[@ps1029384756]

Asthmen and if the plural of goose is geese why aren't multiple moose called meese?

[@hiveinsider9122]

And the plural of boot, beet?

[@NiraExecuto]

And if the plural of mouse is mice, why aren't multiple houses called hice?

[@brokenwave6125]

The plural of boot is boots. but the plural of foot is feet.Its English. Get used to it haha

[@tralt135]

If ox is oxen, is box boxen?

[@admiralpercy]

I thought an inch was three barleycorns.

[@paulkennedy8701]

That doesn't mean it isn't based on the size of a thumb. Don't forget a foot was 12 inches, but it's still based on a foot. A yard was 3 feet, but it was still based on the distance from nose to fingertip (or something). Etc.

[@admiralpercy]

Paul Kennedy I meant actual barley corns, not the unit of measure "barleycorn"

[@paulkennedy8701]

Admiral Percy 'Barleycorn' was a unit of measure though. It's just that the inch wasn't created when someone said we need something that's 3 times as long. Of course not many people have a thumb that's only 1 inch long. And 'inch' is actually derived from a word meaning 'twelfth' (just as 'ounce' is). So it's more likely it was created because people wanted something that was one-twelfth the length of their foot.

[@admiralpercy]

Paul Kennedy I seem to recall hearing that an inch would change every harvest depending on how big the barley corns were. Could be my child-brain memory.

[@paulkennedy8701]

Admiral Percy Probably someone got the wrong end of the stick. Not necessarily you though. It could've been whoever you heard it from, or whoever they heard it from, or.... All sorts of myths and misunderstandings happen that way.

[@CapaTwoZero]

Matt Parker could make a video about the qualities of paint drying and it would still be interesting to watch.

[@standupmaths]

+Voxxy You see, the interesting thing about paint drying…

[@Steveman1800]

My University Physics professor at Cleveland State University, Jearl Walker, graduated from MIT and incorporated smoots into some physics problems. This video reminded me of him and helped me appreciate what a great teacher he is.

[@TheRealE.B.]

I had Mathcad Prime open on my computer while watching this video. The damn thing doesn't have cups or quarts or pints, but I checked and it does indeed support calculations in Smoots.

[@tscjiv]

Back in the day, when I was a tour guide at MIT, I always got chuckles from the Smoots story. Thanks for sharing this fabulous part of MIT lore.

[@VegaSera]

I feel like this entire video was just an excuse to say Gigasmoot.

[@jimmygarza8896]

A perfect reason.

[@kennethflorek8532]

At last we know the reason the US has never adopted the metric system. The head of the ISO has held out for the Smoot versus the meter.

[@teeangle]

Thanks for keeping the pru in the background, haven't been back to Boston in 6 years, hit me right in the feels

[@marcochimio]

As an M.I.T. grad, we are all familiar with the story of Oliver Smoot, but is so wonderful to see this video. I love the extra details about Tom O'Connor whose idea it actually was. Thanks for making this video and for making my day in the process. Bravo.

[@andrewkovnat]

I am one smoot tall.

[@Quasarbooster]

Andrew Kovnat I am 1.02 (plus or minus 0.01) smoots

[@davidonfim2381]

I am 0.985 smoots tall.

[@terryendicott2939]

I am a smoot and an ear plus or minus a pimple.

[@NoOne-ye5jf]

I am 1.09296 smoots tall.

[@oz_jones]

Me too!

[@noodlesthe1st]

I'm so happy you made this video. I already know the story because I've been there but the way you make the videos is too entertaining

[@KaiweraGaming]

I've lived around Boston my entire life and have walked that bridge multiple times and I had no idea about any of this. This is absolutely fantastic!

[@tonygenio]

Hey, Matt! So... last weekend I visited my brother, who lives just outside Boston, and we were walking around the city in the chilly wind when we -almost furtuitously- happened upon Harvard Bridge (on the MIT side). I had already seen this video and I must tell you I was completely giddy with nerdy excitement. Thank you for the good times, sir!

[@Jacobjghughes]

Got a bit of a Tom Scott vibe from this video... And I like it. I think Matt would look good in the red t-shirt.

[@SergeofBIBEK]

Every time I see that you've uploaded a video it feels like Christmas morning.

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

We are all indebted to Oliver Smoot :)

[@alangriffin8146]

My brother was a mortarman in the US Army, and the range calculator had the option to display in smoots. Needless to say, he always asked his section leader if he wanted the range in meters or smoots.

[@CCcrafted]

It makes me happy that wolfram alpha recognises the smoot :')

[@DerEddyTeddy]

I thought I was on Tom Scotts Channel for a second

[@standupmaths]

+DerEddyTeddy I forgot my red t-shirt.

[@derekspender1303]

You've made my day. As an engineer I have a great interest in measurement and measurement standards.

[@edski24]

This is KZbin gold, if it wasn't for lockdown I might not have come across this video and the unit of smoot distance Thank you

[@lawrencecalablaster568]

Oliver Smoot is a hero! Hero cheer! Three smoots! Smoot! Smoot! Smoot!

[@nichrun]

I was there a few weeks ago. I think we drove over the bridge but I had no idea about this great history :) great vid!

[@conunfrum]

Love your videos Matt, that magnetic base on your camera made my head spin when you attached it to the pole.

[@iabervon]

I wish I'd saved the transcript of the speech that Oliver Smoot gave at the end of his term as the president of ISO. It talked about how good standards are not invented by committees in advance of being used, but rather codify what has arisen naturally in the world and share it so that more people can conform to existing practice. It does not, in any way, refer to the fact that nobody decided that he would be 5 foot 7, but rather found that, when you measure a bridge with him, your markings turn out to be that distance apart.

[@ChadWSmith]

That video was a buttload of fun.

[@TCWordz]

Smootload*

[@persilis]

Chad W Smith tehe

[@NickCombs]

+/- 3 Ears

[@thanksfernuthin]

Is that a metric buttload? Or...

[@ChadWSmith]

A US Buttload - or 2 Hogsheads. A Hogshead is 6 firkins. (So a Buttload would be 12 firkins.) A Buttload, therefore is about 126 US Gallons, or about 477 Liters. +/- an εar

[@traktortarik8224]

Listen, I don't care what country you come from, the letter "Χ" should NEVER be pronounced [.ˈt͡ʃaɪ]

[@error.418]

yes, thank you!

[@rich1051414]

The letter what? I didn't pronounce it so you didn't say a letter.

[@error.418]

Mayor Ushanka It's IPA, the best way to communicate pronunciation in writing.

[@rich1051414]

Chi is the name of the letter. Getting annoyed it is pronounced is ridiculous, how are you suppose to say it if you are not allowed to pronounce it. I am so confused right now. While I think it is pronounced like 'ki' and not with a typical 'ch' sound, I have no idea what he means by 'never pronounced'. Does he mean the letter itself should never be said?

[@error.418]

Richard Smith No, he wrote IPA after the phrase "never pronounced." The IPA is a guide for pronunciation, the International Phonetic Alphabet. So the meaning of the sentence is more like, "the letter X should never be pronounced the same as the word chai!" It does not mean it should never be pronounced.

[@LostieTrekieTechie]

I visited the city a year ago and stumbled upon this. I immediately knew what I was looking at thanks to this video!

[@thanksfernuthin]

What fun! Great video. It's great once in a while that humanity looks at something and says "You know what? That's pretty cool. Lets do that!"

[@Milkiest]

+Standupmaths Still in town and want a tour of MIT and some classes? Also it is cool seeing where I live within a few steps of where you took a video.

[@standupmaths]

+MilkMan Sadly I am already back in England. Next time!

[@ThePhantazmya]

Gigasmoots! Rofl ... sounds like a power up in a video game.

[@klobiforpresident2254]

We would need that Power up. Now.

[@twothreebravo]

One point twenty-one jigasmoots?!?!

[@Fetch26291]

MIT is in Cambridge, MA, USA. The Charles River is the border between the two cities. It is also the border between Suffolk County & Middlesex County.

[@IferMasterofFire]

This is just a perfect story! Both the incorporation of the fraternity tradition into the bridge and Mr Smoot's career in international standards :-)

[@JackLe1127]

the subtitle at 8:48: "....OrganiSation for StandardiZation" Nice mix of American and British English there....

[@sonnylatchstring]

In 1958 someone with a length of 1.7018 metres can't have been the shortest person around.

[@AlexanderKrivacsSchrder]

Well, in addition to being short, they also had to have a name worthy of a measurement. So there may have been somebody shorter than Smoot, but they probably had a name like Carter or Smith or something else non-measure-like.

[@aajjeee]

Sonny Latchstring shorties dont fit in those groups

[@Ascordigan]

Of the pledges that year/semester/week/whatever, he might well have been.

[@kyleLOD]

This video has made my morning. Thank you.

[@celtgunn9775]

I just love this, Thank you for sharing this sort of information. It's so great to learn new things every day.

[@Jazzsussmanmoss]

I can't believe you were less than an hour from my home, and I never knew. Care to visit Rhode Island? It's very nice, and small. It's very small.

[@standupmaths]

+Jazz sussman moss I'll get there one day!

[@dhawthorne1634]

Providence, RI is a beautiful city. You should come for a Waterfire event. The one for breast cancer awareness in early October is the biggest.

[@gregistopal]

Jazz sussman moss lol

[@Porygonal64]

Salute to smoot.

[@cjoduse95]

Never refute the Smoot

[@dustypartition]

Don't shoot the smoot. (Sorry Boston)

[@juneguts]

I've never heard of this story. Thank you for sharing this.

[@nestorroura6720]

I absolutely LOVE that the subtitles are retroactively corrected at 10:11

[@darrylelam256]

Weird knowledge filling up my brain... please make it stop.

[@standupmaths]

+Darryl Elam Now you know how I feel.

[@rickyoswald]

They measured his height once, and used that measure. The idea of him actually laying down to be the measuring stick is an anecdote.

[@magellanicraincloud]

standupmaths Surely Smoot should be entombed in a vault in France next to the kilo and metre! love your videos mate.

[@BleuSquid]

Specifically, 364.4 smoots and an ear. Can't forget the ear, it's very important!

[@BleuSquid]

Oh good, you got the ear in at the end. That'll teach me to respond before watching the entire video.

[@error.418]

no, it's ± 1 ear, as in plus or minus 1 ear, it's a measure of uncertainty

[@BleuSquid]

That's why it's very important!

[@error.418]

Aaron Haviland agreed :)

4:35 - 4:40 if you tell me you improvised this smooth scene,then I can tell you you made my OCD cry :D It felt like someone else poped out of nowhere and hold the camera as smooth the transition was,very well made sir!

[@frankrizzo4747]

It looked pretty smoot to me

[@FrankBraaksma]

The jogger that passes in front of the text at 6:46, very well done Matt!

[@Pilbaran00b]

Ah the Smoot, just as arbitrary as all other imperial units :D

[@rextheroyalist6389]

Pilbaran00b | measurement as a whole is a human construct solely invented for convenience. There is no reason why the number 1000 is special, it just looks nice in a base ten numerical system (an arguably arbitrary numerical system) don't act as if a bunch of French micromanagers that couldn't be bothered to do a bit of maths are respectable, they even tried to metricise time for fucks sake! Until you commit yourself to learning how to tell time like a Napoleonic ponce, you have no justification for deeming some units more arbitrary than others

[@masonking2188]

Ya you stupid idiot

[@olleicua]

How long are you in Boston, are you doing any events?

[@NiemandKatzchen]

These uninterrupted transitions to stationary shots while speaking are pretty great!

[@standupmaths]

+Niemand katzchen Thanks. I was quite proud of those.

[@roelvoort]

Amazing information. And you present so well.

[@gmaasry]

Dear Matt, I wanted to tell you that "that" should be "which," by which I mean that the which which you've used to title your video is grammatically incorrect, and that's that.

[@VulcanTrekkie45]

Hey how long are you in Boston for? Let me know if you're interested in getting shown the city and area surrounding by a native! PS you can see my office in the far background.

[@error.418]

there are dozens of us!

[@FortisConscius]

Sounds like a mob forming... Doesn't seem too friendly anymore :P

[@standupmaths]

+Spencer O'Dowd I was only in town for a few days. I filmed the video on Thursday last week and uploaded after I was back home in the UK. Next time!

[@error.418]

standupmaths I hope you had a lovely time in our town :) Know that you'll always have an eager fanbase here ready to buy you a cup of tea and do some proper maths.

[@VulcanTrekkie45]

Maybe the mathematics of the Boston Tea Party? :P

[@PhoeniixFiire]

This story is so funny. I'm just imagining them dragging the guy around like some floppy, ragdoll ruler. You know, I've on a number of occasions used my forearm to measure distances...I've always wondered why that wasn't a unit of measurement. Maybe we could create it and call it...the Ulna.

[@tonyg7499]

Oh my gosh! I run across this bridge almost every morning. Thanks for another great video

[@PBTophie]

There needs to be a Smoot measuring stick.

[@error.418]

there is, go find Oliver Smoot

[@PBTophie]

lol "Excuse me, Mr. Smoot, could I perchance borrow your being for a second or so?"

[@error.418]

Tophie Hah hah, no, I mean he was given a commemorative stick of exactly one smoot in length

[@PBTophie]

Oh, that's awesome. lol

[@geryon]

How many mark twains deep is that river?

[@SuperHeffay]

this is by far the nerdiest video i have ever come across. and i loved every moment of it, thank you

[@jnmdrake]

Great video. A revelation. It was worth all those raindrops per square smoot. Thank you Mr P.

[@nightangel7239]

Was I the only one hoping he'd measure the bridge in Parkers, next?

[@kyrla]

Night Angel that would make it a bit of a Parker Bridge wouldn't it?

[@peterdvornik]

The "ch" in Lambda Chi Alpha, makes k sound. It sounds like "sky" without the "s"

[@kl1nk0r]

Only in english languages.

[@daicon2k6]

Also in Greek.

[@peterdvornik]

it is a greek letter, i dont know what english pronunciation has to do with it

[@kl1nk0r]

It is the same with the latin/roman alphabet. I am very sure that latin letters are pronounced differently in English than in German for example. I assumed this was obvious. Same thing.

[@jammin023]

'k' is the closest English approximation to its correct pronunciation (which has more of a roll at the back of the throat - it sounds a bit like hoiking up some phlegm :) ). Pronouncing it like the "ch" in "cheese" as he does in this video is totally wrong. You can tell from English words that are based on Greek ones, such as "chronology", "chiral" or "Christ". In fact, chi is often transliterated as 'kh' now rather than 'ch' just to avoid the ambiguity of the latter.

[@cash4laughs71]

I love Wolfram Alpha you tell an amazing story guy. Thanks for the info.

[@gejyspa]

I first learned about this bridge when I toured MIT as a prospective student in 1979. I never knew they officially rebuilt it in Smoots in the late 1980s until today. Fantastic!

[@tigerkill420]

+standupmaths could you do an interview with Mr. smoot? I would be awesome. get his insights at the time.

[@AlexanderKrivacsSchrder]

Psst. You can edit KZbin comments.

[@PelletProof]

Except on mobile. Edit: Also, if the mistake is funny, it's perfectly fine to leave it as-is.

[@AlexanderKrivacsSchrder]

I've had no trouble editing my comments on mobile so far. Though your point about leaving funny mistakes is a valid one. Just thought I'd point it out though, since I've come across plenty of people who were not aware of the ability to edit comments.

[@iLOLZU42]

Now I want to be 5'7''. Then you can get the nickname 'Smoot'

[@WombatSlug]

That is fascinating. I'll need to check out that bridge when I make it there next year. I walked from the Boston Common to MIT to meet up with friends a few years back, which didn't take me across the Harvard Bridge.

[@moirajax1088]

This is probably THE best video of 2016! :)

[@CristiNeagu]

ISO is not pronounced I.S.O. It's pronounced Iso. That is because it's named the International Organization of Standards, not International Standards Organization. The ISO comes from "isos", which is greek for "equal". See this, about half way down the page: www.iso.org/iso/home/about.htm

[@paulkennedy8701]

That's interesting. Thank you. However, that web page does not say 'ISO' is to be pronounced as a word rather than as letters. (It's similar in a way to 'ECU'. It's both an abbreviation for 'European currency unit' and the name of an old French coin.)

[@macronencer]

Paul Kennedy, I'm not convinced by this argument. Since the point of using 'isos' is to avoid confusion because of abbreviations, I'd assume they intend it *not* to be pronounced like an abbreviation.

[@CristiNeagu]

macronencer This is an argument going way back in the photography community. The web is full of videos about how to pronounce ISO, and pretty much everyone agrees you're not supposed to spell it out.

[@RMoribayashi]

They did the same thing with UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) without the fancy Greek root story. It's really just a way to keep the French from being all french about what language the name is in.

[@dedwarmo]

I don't understand fraternities.

[@andrewmole3355]

I walked to this location when I lived in Boston for 6 months, but I didn’t notice the plaque and might not have understood it. But next time I will… Thank you!

[@Wordsnwood]

Reminds me of the Star Trek TNG episode Parallels. That one was the source of the "shuttle full of worfs" as a unit of volume.