Smoot's Ear: The Measure of Humanity

An exciting preface gets this history of measurement underway, describing how a 1958 fraternity initiation ritual at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology led the construction industry's adoption of the Smoot, a length equal to Oliver Smoot's 5'7"" body, which was used to measure the length of the Harvard Bridge (360 ""Smoots"" plus the length of his ear). Following this, London School of Economics professor Tavernor too often gets bogged down in a long-winded defense of his contention that measurement has been dehumanized, ""culturally removed from the mainstream experience of society,"" losing focus and momentum as he does. To buttress this argument, Tavernor takes a broad swipe at history, beginning in the sixth century B.C., which picks up steam with France's invention, in the aftermath of the Revolution, of the metric system. A long chapter on defining the meter makes a compelling account-every locality had its own standards, wreaking havoc on commerce throughout France-and leads Tavernor into interesting discussions of the system's influence on culture (especially architecture), the ""Anglo-Saxon resistance"" with which the system was met and the evolving philosophy of measurement. An interesting but diffuse look at the unexpected controversies of measurement, Tavernor's volume is best for patient students of history and architecture.