Like the Japanese abacus (which was based on the Chinese abacus), it has two decks of beads. The abacus pictured above is a Chinese abacus. The Japanese abacus has two decks of beads on each wire-one rank contains four beads, and the other a single bead. The abaci used in many Western classrooms generally have 10 beads on each wire. A Russian abacus has ten beads on each wire, with one or two wires containing four beads in order to calculate quarter ruble and quarter kopek quantities. Most abaci consist of a wooden frame which contains several rows of beads strung on stiff wires. While there are many different kinds of abaci, which come from diverse parts of the world, the general form remains relatively constant. They were probably initially developed by merchants in Asia or the Middle East in order to speed transactions along, and are still commonly taught and used in some parts of the world. Abaci are designed to mechanize the processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in order to quickly perform arithmetic with few errors. Of course, now I have to figure out how to use the damn thing.Īn abacus is a kind of calculator, similar to the four function calculators that are used in many elementary school classrooms. In this spirit, I recently picked up an abacus. I think there is value in learning to use tools that are now obsolete, but which were once vital. While I eventually moved away from the social sciences and into mathematics, I still have an abiding interest in archaeology, and often think like an archaeologist.įor instance, I am fascinated by material culture-I love the various things that people use in order to carry their daily tasks. In fact, I nearly completed a bachelor’s program in anthropology, and I spent several summers working for the BLM and Forest Service conducting archaeological survey and excavation. There was a time when I thought I was going to be an archaeologist.
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