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The Abacus

 

            Have you ever wondered about where the mathematical machine, the abacus, came from, or what it is commonly used for? These are some questions that will be answered in my paper. My paper is generally about the abacus's beginning, its earlier forms, what it is used for today and in the past, how well it works, and how it has changed through the ages.
             The abacus is perhaps the earliest computer ever known to man, after the ten fingers on you hands of course. The abacus was created because being limited to counting to ten, just wasn't enough. Some of the earliest versions of the abacus, are sometimes called are called Counting Boards . Counting boards were originally made of wood, metal, or stone. They often have ten, straight, parallel, rows horizontal with nine pebbles or marbles in each row. The abacus closely resembles that description, however it has stings or wire between the rows, and the "pebbles" is threaded on the sting. .
             The basics of using the counting board goes like this. There are nine pebbles in each row. The pebbles in all of the rows start out on the far left of the board. To count you move a pebble from the left side of the board to the right side to count out "one." When you move one more to the right side of the board, you have "two." When you had counted nine, all of the pebbles on the bottom of the board should be on the right side of the board. When you wanted to count to ten, you would move the pebbles on the bottom row back to the left, and move one pebble on the second row to the right side of the board. When two of the second row pebbles are on the right you have twenty. When only one third row pebble is on the right side of the board, you have one-hundred. The abacus and many different variations of the counting board work in much the same way.
             The abacus's origin is unknown. However most believe that it originated in Central Asia having. The abacus was an extreme technological advance.


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