In 1958, as a freshman at MIT and Lambda Chi Alpha pledge, the fraternity pledgemaster hatched the idea to use the shortest — and most scientifically named pledge — to measure the bridge from Boston to Cambridge.
Little did they know, however, that their activity would make its way into MIT, Boston and even Google lore.
They also underestimated how difficult getting up and down 364.4 times (plus or minus an ear) would be. "I don't think any of us had the slightest idea how much work was involved with lying down, getting up," he said. "They had to help me a great way across the bridge. I started by doing a push-up, and then I couldn't even do that. It deteriorated from there."
In 1958, a group of MIT students measured the Massachusetts Ave. Bridge in “smoots,” a now accepted unit of measurement named for the 5-foot, 7-inch Oliver R. Smoot Jr. ’62, who famously laid down hundreds of times across the span one storied night as his peers painted markers across the bridge, totaling 364.4 smoots
On April 4, an MIT team set out on a similar journey across the Charles River to pull off a new “hack,” this time measuring the Longfellow Bridge in “kleins.” This new measurement is named after Smoot’s classmate Martin Klein ’62. One klein (4 feet, 9.5 inches) is equal to 0.85820896 smoots.
The expedition was undertaken in honor of both Smoot and the 85th birthday of Klein.
Known as the father of commercial side-scan sonar, Klein serves on the MIT Sea Grant Advisory Board and the MIT Museum Collections Committee. His sonar technology has been used worldwide to help locate countless famous shipwrecks, including the Titanic, the World War I ocean liner RMS Lusitania, and the treasure-laden Nuestra Señora de Atocha.
Appropriately, the MIT team used a “side-scan” method to survey the Longfellow Bridge.
Reclined on a custom-engineered wooden cart topped with a mission-specific chaise lounge pillow, Klein himself acted as the official observation device — by looking to the sides — as the team pulled him along the bridge.
this post brought to you because of bridges, humor, and the cart they thoughtfully used so 82 year old Martin Klein did not have to move and lay down and move 400 times...
We can all benefit from some light humor about bridges, goody characters, and carts
