The abacus was invented in the ancient Mesopotamian empire in approximately 3000 BC. Although there is no reliable evidence crediting a specific person as its creator, its invention is attributed to Mesopotamian culture in general.
It is often believed that it was invented in China, however this is incorrect. Despite not being its inventor, China is responsible for its popularization during the rise of the Ming Dynasty, 600 years ago.
There have been several different models of abacus that vary depending on the culture where they were created.
The traditional abacus marketed in western countries corresponds to the design of the Roman philosopher Boethius.
Invention of the abacus and its use in ancient times
The culture of Mesopotamia was always closely linked to the development of mathematics and commercial activities, so it is to be assumed that at some point they encountered difficulties when carrying out mathematical operations of medium and high complexity.
An abacus can be used to simplify basic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, or directly to save time when performing them.
These operations are the foundation of basic arithmetic. Mesopotamia is known precisely for its inventions and for having made great advances in mathematics.
The creation of the abacus is estimated around 3 thousand years BC. C. In addition to basic operations, an abacus can be used to perform more complex calculations, such as raising a number to a power or taking square and cube roots.
Design
Many of the great emblematic civilizations of the world such as the Egyptian, Roman and Chinese, used the abacus as a central instrument to perform calculations. It is believed that the first interest rates in the world were calculated thanks to abacuses.
The best known design of the abacus consists of a wooden frame with small balls that move up and down through 10 vertical bars located next to each other. Going from left to right, each bar counts a multiple of 10 (1, 10, 100, 1000).
In this way it can be counted up to very high numbers, on the order of billions. For example, if you want to represent the number 154, you would move a ball in the hundred row, 5 in the ten row, and 4 in the unity row.
Variations
Due to their incredibly simple and easy-to-use nature, there have been many variations of abacus throughout history that have managed to enhance their abilities or apply them in different ways.
The more complex variants are not limited to multiples of 10, and can be adapted to other numbering systems such as binary and hexadecimal.
Some of the most recognized are the soroban of Japanese origin, and the suanpan of Chinese origin, which are still used today for the teaching of basic mathematics.
The abacus today
The abacus has been in disuse for the past 40 years. The digital revolution generated by computers and digital systems massively used calculators, smartphones and cash registers for daily calculations.
In its golden age, the abacus was even considered an excellent gift for any child, since it was the most common way to learn basic mathematical notions. Today it is still used in some countries as a toy to "speed up the mind."
References
- Numeral Systems (nd). Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from Rapid Tables.
- What is the Origin and History of the Abacus? (sf). Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from CAVSI.
- The Abacus (2010). Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from Aprendiendo Matemáticas.
- Abacus (nd). Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from Retro Calculators.
- Soroban (2008). Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from Soroban.
- Elia Tabuenca (December 2016). How to use an abacus. Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from Uncomo.
- Alexei Volkov (February 3, 2007). Xu Yue. Retrieved on October 25, 2017, from Encyclopædia Britannica.