VINTAGE WOODEN ABACUS (COUNTING FRAME) WITH 10 ROWS COMFORTABLE SIZE 31CM W 34CM H

NICE VINTAGE WOODEN ABACUS OR COUNTING FRAME.

IT HAS 10 ROWS AND IS A COMFORTABLE 31CM WIDE AND 34CM HIGH.

The abacus also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool which has been used since ancient times. It was used in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. The exact origin of the abacus has not yet emerged. It consists of rows of movable beads, or similar objects, strung on a wire. They represent digits. One of the two numbers is set up, and the beads are manipulated to perform an operation such as addition, or even a square or cubic root.

In their earliest designs, the rows of beads could be loose on a flat surface or sliding in grooves. Later the beads were made to slide on rods and built into a frame, allowing faster manipulation. Abacuses are still made, often as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires. In the ancient world, particularly before the introduction of positional notation, abacuses were a practical calculating tool. The abacus is still used to teach the fundamentals of mathematics to some children, for example, in Russia.

SIZE: 31CM WIDE 34CM HIGH

CONDITION: NAME FROM PREVIOUS OWNER DEVON WRITTEN ON THE SIDE. IN GOOD VINTAGE CONDITION.

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