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Alex's Adventures In Numberland by Alex Bellos (view source)
Revision as of 12:46, 12 April 2010
, 12:46, 12 April 2010no edit summary
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{{comment|name=H James|verb=said|comment=Heard Alex Belloc on the radio this morning re his ''Numberland'' book; mentioning about kids in the Far East and their mathematical abilities. I'm not surprised, as kids in the Far East are told by their teachers to imagine an abacus in their head, which helps them to do mental arithmetic easily.
Also, depending on the shape of the object, the name of the unit differs. For example, counting flat objects it's ichi-mai, ni-mai,
san-mai, yon-mai. Whereas for cylindrical objects it's ippon, nippon, sanbon, yonhon; and for cars/machinery, it's ichi-dai, ni-dai,
san-dai, yon-dai; and say for fish - ippiki, nihiki, sanbiki, yonhiki. All of which, certainly makes it all the more interesting.}}
{{comment|name=Keith|verb=replied|comment=Chapter one (actually the second chapter, as he starts with chapter zero) of ''Alex's Adventures In Numberland'' includes a look at after-school abacus clubs. It also includes anzan - the imagined abacuses you mention. The different names of the units don't feature in the book, but how fascinating!}}