The Abacus: The World's First Computing System: Where it Comes From, How it Works, and How to Use it to Perform Mathermatical Feats Great and Small: Amazon.ca: Jesse Dilson: Books

Product Description

The abacus is as useful and effecient a machine today as it was when it was first created centures ago. Whether you're an expert in the latest computer technology or you're mastering arithmetic and word problems for the first time, it won't take long to learn the basics (and even the not-so-basics) of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing on this ingenious and fun-to-use mathematical tool.

Ingram

The world's first computing system, the abacus was an ingenious invention designed to perform speedy calculations through the movement of beads on a series of rods. The new edition of Dilson's marvelous book is even more user-friendly that the original; it comes with a working abacus that can be used in concert with its easy-to-follow and clear illustrations.

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Mention the number 10, and people will say, "Now there's a round number." Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

9 Reviews

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.3 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars poor and dated, Nov 19 2002

By

Fred K. Johnson (Aurora, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Abacus: The World's First Computing System: Where it Comes From, How it Works, and How to Use it to Perform Mathermatical Feats Great and Small (Paperback)

This book has some nice anecdotal information on the abacus. The one that comes with it is actually fairly nice. It is a Chinese 2/5 with 9 columns. This is not really enough for multiplication and division problems. Still it isn't a bad one. The algorithms for using it in the book are wrong. For instance you properly add and subtract going from left to right. You should actually do it this way on paper. Try it, it's easier than right to left. Yes they work but are not how to use it properly. If you want to really learn how to us it get Takashi Kojima's book, "Japanese Abacus: Its Use and Theory". This book will really teach you how and includes the standard tests for third and first degree certification. Understand that most modern use of the abacus is based on the 1/4 Japanese Soroban. You will never use both 5 count beads on the top, just one. And on the bottom you will use 4 of the 5 beads. You might get confused learning proper use with a Chinese Suan Pan(abacus). Still they are nice and some have larger beads easier to work than those on a Japanese Soroban. I use an abacus for teaching my first grade twins math. They are great for kids learning how to carry etc. When I was in highschool calculators were new and expensive. I used a Soroban with my slide rule. with some practice you can actually do some remarkable things with one even in the day of cheap calculators. For an alternative place for getting an abacus check out Tomoe Soroban on the internet.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

3.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to this magical "machine", Aug 9 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Abacus: The World's First Computing System: Where it Comes From, How it Works, and How to Use it to Perform Mathermatical Feats Great and Small (Paperback)

This book is an excellent introduction into how to use the abacus. I think some of other reviewers here missed the point of this particular text -- it wasn't meant to be the end-all official reference of how to use an abacus. It serves it's purpose well: If you've always been curious about the little device that can be as fast as a calculator (in some people's hands), this is a good, short, book to give you an overview of the basic usage of it. If you want to become an abacus expert, I'm sure you could find thicker more expensive books that would suit you better.
In addition to lessons on how to do basic math, the monotony of the exercise chapters are broken up by a sprinkling of history, story, and lore behind the development and use of the abacus.
Overall, this is a good, brief, book which can answer the question, "How does that thing work?" Best of all, it's short enough that you could read it in an hour or two.

As a side note, the abacus it comes bundled with is also good for this introductory purpose. It's small, and unless you have tiny fingers, you'll probably bump beads unintenionally -- but for the price, it's good enough to satisfy your curiosity.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful--entertaining and informative, Jan 31 2001

By

Craig Kenneth Bryant (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Abacus: The World's First Computing System: Where it Comes From, How it Works, and How to Use it to Perform Mathermatical Feats Great and Small (Paperback)

I spent years mildly curious about the abacus--particularly, any time I saw film of schoolkids or shopkeepers in Asia producing inerrant sums and differences with their fingers all a blur. Then, I saw this book, bundled with a little wooden abacus, and decided I'd give this ancient calculator a try.

I found the book an delight, with its friendly discussions of the history of the abacus, its variant forms from land to land (Chinese vs. Japanese, etc.), and, even its jolly little excursion into binary arithmetic on the abacus. Yes, I suppose it is a short book, and it doesn't spend a lot of pages on mathematical drill, but how many pages do you need? It's not like there's a complicated operating system or scripting language for this venerable tool...just the curious yet undeniable pleasure of sliding beads along sticks, just as people have been doing for centuries...

I should also mention that the abacus makes a great conversation piece, sitting out on the top of your Pentium tower at work. "My new palmtop," I tell everyone who asks.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 9 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 13 reviews 3.2 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Way too simple and short
If you thought you can buy this book and do arithmetic on the abacus, I'm sorry, but you're wrong. First, this book is WAY TOO SHORT to describe much. Read more

Published on Jun 28 2000 by Vincent S. Yeung

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun for all ages!
This book is excellent for learning basic information about the abacus. This book demonstrates at a late elementary school level. Read more

Published on Nov 26 1998 by Rebecca (rebecca@hackboy.com)