What is ‘Abacus’
1. A calculation tool used by sliding counters along rods or grooves, used to perform mathematical functions. In addition to calculating the basic functions of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, the abacus can calculate roots up to the cubic degree.
2. A semi-annual accounting journal published and edited by the University of Sydney. Published in 1965, this journal covers all areas of accounting.
Explaining ‘Abacus’
It is believed that the abacus was first used by the Babylonians, as early as 2,400 B.C. Since that time, the physical structure of abaci have changed. However, the idea has survived almost five millenia, and is still being used today.
The Chinese and Japanese use different finger techniques with their abaci. The Chinese use three fingers (thumb, index, and middle) to move the beads; while the Japanese only use their thumb and index fingers.
Further Reading
- Financial accounting research, practice, and financial accountability – onlinelibrary.wiley.com [PDF]
- The capital asset pricing model (CAPM): the history of a failed revolutionary idea in finance? – onlinelibrary.wiley.com [PDF]
- Compterization and the ABACUS: Reputation, trust, and fiduciary duties in Investment Banking – eureka.sbs.ox.ac.uk [PDF]
- Accounting Research in – onlinelibrary.wiley.com [PDF]
- The impact of non‐serial publications on research in accounting and finance – onlinelibrary.wiley.com [PDF]
- Earnings and impression management in financial reports: the case of CEO changes – onlinelibrary.wiley.com [PDF]
- Twenty years of accounting and finance research on the Chinese capital market – onlinelibrary.wiley.com [PDF]
- A new parameter: an abacus for optimizing pv–t hybrid solar device functional materials using the Boubaker polynomials expansion scheme – www.worldscientific.com [PDF]
