Purchase An Abacus
Please refer to question 1 in the abacus FAQ.
Books About the Abacus
You might also be interested in one or more of the following:
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| EasyAbacus
by Edward Barnique, Trafford Publishing, ISBN: 1-4120-8131-9; written for grades 4-6, or anyone interested in learning the basics. |
The Abacus by Jesse Dilson, St. Martin's Press, ISBN: 031210409X; a wooden abacus accompanies the book. |
Japanese Abacus: It's Use and Theory, by Takashi Kojima, Charles E Tuttle Co., ISBN: 0804802785 |
Advanced Abacus: Japanese Theory and Practice, by Takashi Kojima, Charles E Tuttle Co., ISBN: 0804800030 (thanks to Patrick CW Pang for this pointer).
The Abacus Made Easy, by Mae E. Davidow, 2nd Edition, Amer. Printing House for Blind, ISBN: 9991521933
Activities for the Abacus : A Hands-On Approach to Learning Arithmetic, by Joan A. Cotter, by Activities for Learning, ISBN: 0960963618
Build an Abacus
Build a 3-column LEGO Abacus that counts up to 999.
Build an abacus using popsicle-sticks, wooden dowels and decorative beads.
The Abacus in the Classroom
Do It Yourself Abaci
Instead of purchasing abaci for use in class, consider having the children build their own abacus as a class project by bringing various items from home, or purchased in a craft store, by the school; e.g:- popsicle-sticks to build the frame (an Origami box makes a neat
frame, too);
- drinking straws or pipe-cleaners for the rods;
- for the beads use, metal machine-nuts or washers,
Cheerios™ (preserved with some thinned; glue and poster paint),
or macaroni or plastic decorative beads.
Abacus Lesson Plan
Leah Tait suggested this classroom lesson plan about the abacus, with instructions for building an inexpensive abacus.
An Abacus for your PDA
PDA Abacus: The PalmOS soroban displayed on
my Sony Clié.
Vector
has one for WinCE (PocketPC) PDAs (thanks to Miwako
Sakabayashi for these links).
An Abacus for your iPhone
An iPhone abacus is available ($0.99).
There is a also free Japanese Soroban Abacus app with support for the accelerometer and sound.
Abacus Applet Source Code
You can download the Java source code and for the abacus applet. If you are interested in programming Java, my comments regarding the development of the applet may make interesting reading.
Mathematics and Science Links
- Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles
- A feast for the eyes; a banquet for the mind! You will leave
hungry for more!
- POP Mathematics Archive
- Did you ever wonder what makes math teachers get so excited
about some topic in Mathematics? The POP Math Archive collects items
about mathematics which may explain this wierd behavior.
- Math Forum
- A center for teachers, students, researchers, parents, educators
and citizens who have an interest in mathematics education.
- Mathematics Gems
- Frank Potter's Science Gems.
- Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science
- ENC provides K-12 teachers with a central source of information on
mathematics and science curriculum materials.
- PBS TeacherSource
- Recommended educational resources on the web
maintained by PBS.
Abacus Watches
Juan Muchos Jarros emailed me about watches made by Citizen, Japan that display the time in Soroban style. There are two basic models: “Space TV” and “High Fashion”.
“Space TV” model: the soroban is oriented normally, with the 5 on the top.
“High Fashion” model: the abacus is oriented sideways (horizontally) with the 5 on the left; the watch will also make use of the LEDs as segments in a numeral, and display the time sequentially as well as soroban-style.
Other Abacus Links
- Comparison
- Operate the Chinese
abacus, the Japanese abacus and the Aztec Abacus side-by-side, using
3 Java applets.
- Nathalie Aymé's abacus site (in French)
- Compares an abacus and
a modern calculator.
- The World's Smallest Abacus
- Built from individual molecules by
the Nanoscale Science Group at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory.
- The Wikipedia
- The entry for the abacus from the Wikipedia, the
free online encyclopedia.
History of Computing
- The Analytical Engine
- The first computer.
- Timeline of the History of Computing
- Evolution of computing and computer technology over the
years (68 page PDF document).
- Another Timeline of the History of Computing
- This Computer Museum History Center timeline explores the history
of computing from 1945 to 1990.
- The da Vinci Calculator (or not)
- In 1967, drawings for an adding machine by Leonardo da Vinci,
were discovered (Note: Some pages on that site may
not appropriate for children, but the above page is OK); there is
some
controversy about the purpose of this device.
- The Curta Calculator
- A mechanical calculator invented by Curt Herzstark in the 1950s.
- Ancient Computing Machinery
- My personal page on ancient computers.
