In ancient times, people used small sticks to calculate. These sticks were called "calculation chips", and the calculation with calculation chips as a tool was called "calculation". Later, with the development of production, calculation with sticks was restricted, so people invented a more advanced calculation tool-abacus.
In the Ming Dynasty, abacus could not only add, subtract and multiply, but also calculate the area of land and the size of things of various shapes.
Extended data:
/kloc-In the 6th century, abacus calculation has become the most important calculation method in China, which is indispensable for small-scale shops, state-controlled construction, astronomy, finance, transportation and overseas trade.
In A.D. 128 1 year, China began to use a new calendar, measuring the period of revolution of the earth as 365.2425 days, only 26 seconds away from the modern observation value of 365.2422; The law of twelve averages used in music now was recorded in China as early as16th century. This is a geometric progression, which needs to be obtained by12nd square root. Ancient scientists in China were able to complete these precise calculations, and all of them used abacus.
/kloc-in the 8th century, China's abacus and western mathematics were recorded for the first time. Europe's hand-written calculation and slide rule began to be introduced to China. Because the abacus is easy to carry and the calculation is simple and accurate, people in China still love the abacus, which is not only used in production and life, but also taught in the national education system.
From 1950s to 1970s, abacus assisted the computer to complete the accurate calculation of many important scientific research projects in China at that time. In the 1960s, China developed the first atomic bomb. Because there was only one computer, in order to cope with the huge calculation work, there were many scenes where abacus experts worked out the data of the atomic bomb in the canteen hall of the atomic bomb base, and the final calculation results were accurate.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia-abacus