ABACUS - A CALCULATING DEVICE OF BABYLONIAN ORIGIN
Abacus - calculating device Abacus ( plural Abaci, or Abacuses ), calculating probably of Babylonian origin. It is the ancestor of modern calculating machines and computer. The earliest abacus was a board or slab on which Babylonian spread sand so he could trace letters for general writing purposes. The word abacus is probably is derived through its Greek form abacos . The abacus generally in the form of a large calculating board, was in universal use in Europe in the middle ages as well as in the Arab world and in Asia .It reached Japan in in the 16th century. The introduction of the Hindu-Arabic notation, with its place value and zero, gradually replaced the abacus.