The Abacus: The World's First Computing System

This is a great book for those who would like to teach abacus to their kids. It is simply written so kids who can read can teach themselves. Abacus is not taught in USA schools which explains why Asian kidsare so much better in Math than American kids. Only our arrogance keeps us from introducing it toAmerican kids - pity. Buy this book and give your children a head start in math. They will thank you for it.

I spent years mildly curious about the abacus--particularly, any time I saw film of schoolkids or shopkeepers in Asia producing inerrant sums and differences with their fingers all a blur. Then, I saw this book, bundled with a little wooden abacus, and decided I'd give this ancient calculator a try.I found the book an delight, with its friendly discussions of the history of the abacus, its variant forms from land to land (Chinese vs. Japanese, etc.), and, even its jolly little excursion into binary arithmetic on the abacus. Yes, I suppose it is a short book, and it doesn't spend a lot of pages on mathematical drill, but how many pages do you need? It's not like there's a complicated operating system or scripting language for this venerable tool...just the curious yet undeniable pleasure of sliding beads along sticks, just as people have been doing for centuries...I should also mention that the abacus makes a great conversation piece, sitting out on the top of your Pentium tower at work. "My new palmtop," I tell everyone who asks.

Great book for learn the basics of the Abacus. It includes a story and a partial history of the Abacus. Parts of it are dated, given how computer technology has changed since this book was first published. Still, understanding how computers were at the time and how the Abacus compared to them makes it a worthy addition to any library. Five Stars for both learning how to use an Abacus and about its history up to the time of the book.

I bought an abacus in Hong Kong about two decades ago but did not know how to use it. This small book is efficient and easy to follow. (I couldn't find A Complete Idiot's Guide to the Abacus.) If I can teach mself how to use a computer, then I should be able to go to this ancient tool and learn how to use it.

Old material I already had in other books. Nice to have it in one palce to pass along.

As an introduction to the abacus this book is fantastic. The fact it comes with it's own abacus makes it a must have if you want to get into them.

Purchased as a gift for a friend who absolutely loved it. Learning to use it is fairly easy for those who want to.

They sent a wrong item (less value) but refused to admit it. Later they refused to do an exchange for me after my calls and email. I decided to return the wrong item. However, the owner decided to totally ignore my refund request after several more emails and phone calls. They call the people they work with "STUPID". I was shocked. Another reason they gave me for no refund is that they are "a very small company" and they "don't have profit"... It is ridiculous to speak to them. I threw away the book they sent. I will NEVER NEVER buy anything from them any more.