![]() ![]() All in all, the existence of this global information service has catapulted the development of mechanisms for locating and exchanging information. While it may seem primitive, having a physical object represent simple mathematical procedures such as addition and subtraction was an important step towards the eventual development of the computer. Essentially the abacus is the first attempt at this idea which eventually led to the currently commonly used graphing calculator. The abacus was significant to the history of computers because it's invention shows that people were trying to develop a way of simplifying computations. Modern abaci are often made with wire and beads held together by a bamboo frame. Modern abaci are also constructed better than previous primitive models. The most common use of the abacus is the simple operations of addition and subtraction, which is visually articulated by sliding beads up and down the wires. In China, Japan, Russia, and Africa, the abacus is still widely used by merchants and clerks. The Salamis tablet is a marble tablet with five parallel lines, divided by one vertical line. This tablet is known as the Salamis Tablet, of the Babylonian era. The oldest surviving counting board, an early form of an abacus, dates back to 300 BC. ![]() The wealthier merchants could afford wooden boards with raised borders that would be filled with colored sand. Merchants would draw lines in the sand, and place stones in between the lines (representing the 1's, 10's and 100's places). The woodcut shows Arithmetica instructing an algorist and an abacist (inaccurately represented as Boethius and Pythagoras). The idea of using a device to aid in counting originated in the Mesopotamian era (2700-2300 BC). Calculating-Table by Gregor Reisch: Margarita Philosophica, 1503. 2 Significance to the History of Computers. ![]()
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