Chinese Abacus

Date: 4/8/96 at 13:50:46
From: Anonymous
Subject: Abacus

Dear Dr. Math,

Where can I find information on using a Chinese abacus?

     Christian

Date: 4/13/96 at 0:57:44
From: Doctor Jodi
Subject: Re: abacus

Hi Christian!  

The abacus is a nifty tool.  Hope you get a chance to 
play with one soon.  You can find some information about the 
abacus on the Web at

   http://www.ee.ryerson.ca:8080/~elf/abacus/  

On this page, you'll find information about addition and 
subtraction with an abacus and a bit of its history.

One printed reference I've just heard of is called _Abacus 
Arithmetic_ by Welton Crook, published by Pacific Books, Palo 
Alto, CA.

I haven't had a chance to look at it, but Erez Kaplan, who is 
interested in the history of computing - which includes simple 
"computers" like the abacus - suggested it to me, with the warning 
that REALLY understanding an abacus will take both time and work.  

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

-Doctor Jodi,  The Math Forum