The Chinese Abacus
Who invented the Chinese Abacus?
Chinese abacus is a simple device for performing mathematical calculations. Known as the Fifth Invention of Ancient China, the abacus can perform addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. It can also be used to obtain square roots and cubic roots. The Chinese abacus, saunpan (算盘) were created by a famous mathematician Cheng Dawei of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). August 8 was established as the "abacus festival" in commemoration of him.
Cheng Dawei
Breaking down of Abacus
Normal Abacus
The Japanese and Chinese Abacus
Count the Beads
Each bead in the upper deck has a value of 5. Each bead in the lower deck has a value of 1. Beads are considered counted, when moved towards the beam that separates the two decks.
After 5 beads are counted in the lower deck, the result is "carried" to the upper deck; after both beads in the upper deck are counted, the result (10) is then carried to the left-most adjacent column.
How it inspired what we have today?
Summary
There are two types of abacus. The Binary and the most known, Abacus. The Binary has to do with computers, while the common abacus has concentrates on regular math. The abacus, although is stated to have an origin from China, has been regenerated in many countries. Japan, Russia, and Greece, are just among the few.
There are millions of different inventions in the world today, and many of them come from foreign countries (China), and without them, we would not be where we are now. Europeans have stolen, traded, and enslaved many people and things from other countries, so it is hard to be precise. The Abacus is a basis for what math has evolved into in this age. Modern math would not be possible. Although it is hard to pinpoint exactly when and how it came to Europe (though we believe by trade), we know the truth.