Early counting devices: Early people developed certain kinds of counting device. As man advanced the counting also become more and more complex.
Table of Contents
(a) ABACUS:
This is the earliest counting device. It was invented 2000 years before it has two section, heaven and earth. An Abacus is a manual aid to calculating that consist of beads that can be moved up and down on a series of sticks or strings within a usually wooden frame. The abacus itself doesn’t calculate it’s simply a device for helping a human being to calculate by remembering what has been created.
(b) SLIDE RULE:
A rile with a sliding central strip, marked with logarithmic scales and used for making rapid calculations, especially multiplication and division. The slide rule is used primarily for multiplication and division, and also for functions such as roots, logarithms and trigonometry, but is not normally used for addition or subtraction. Though similar in name and appearance to a standard ruler, the slide rule is not ordinarily used for measuring length or drawing straight lines.
(c) THE NAPIER’S BONE:
The Scottish mathematician John Napier (1550 – 1617) wanted to simplify the work involved in calculations. Napier published a description of his invention in 1617, the year of his death. The bones became used widely in Europe and spread to china. Several improvements were made to Napier’s bone over the years.
One was the Genaille-lucas ruler, which was similar to Napier’s bone but designed to another. Napier’s bone and other related devices, could also be used for division and extracting square and cube roots.
Evaluation:
- What is Abacus
- Explain the functions of slide rule.
Students are read:
ICT as a transformational tool