"The speed at which a trained abacus user can calculate sums is remarkable, and proficient users are even able to visualize the movement of beads in their heads in order to achieve astonishing feats of mental arithmetic."
I know this hasn't got much to do with the reading, but I've always thought abacus's were so cool. I saw this one thing on discovery where these Chinese math prodigies were able to visualize the abacus in their heads and do crazy calculations. It was neat.
Dave should give extra credit points to anyone who can learn to use an abacus.
One problem I had with the reading was it wasn't quite clear on the true discovery of fractions. It talked about how the Pythagorian society contemplated the sub-multiples, then it jumped to the Romans using fractions for trading. So who, when, and where were fractions truly discovered? Is it unknown as to who really did it? Or was it missing from the book we were reading?
But anyway, I really wanted to profess my admiration for the abacus. I wouldn't be surprised if Dave could use one really well.
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