The word Abacus is derived from the Greek "Abax" meaning counting board and the original types of Abacus were stone slates with dust covering them and a stylus used for marking numbers. Later this evolved into a slate with groves where rocks or other counters would be placed to mark numbers. Later it finally evolved into a framed device with beads sliding along bamboo rods. The abacus is thought to have appeared during circa 1200 A.…showed first 75 words of 305 total…

…showed last 75 words of 305 total…Some elderly residents actually prefer the abacus over newer electronic devices. The calculations made on an abacus are immediate, with the device retaining the results which the user can see. Not only that some equation such as addition or subtraction are actually faster than normal calculators. In Asia parents still send their children to private tutors to learn bead arithmetic as a learning aid and a stepping stone to faster and more accurate mental arithmetic's.