---- Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM> wrote:

> the tricky part for me was keeping track of the decimal place. Getting the
> number was easy.

My freshman physics instructor, unlike a good many other instructors I knew over the years, deducted extra rather than less for a power of ten error.  His rationale, explained to a young man who complained, was that with a power of ten error, you crashed the plane, rather than it just being hard to fly.

> now tell me ...is 'abacus' a Latin word ?
> seems like it would be, yet the abacus is an oreintal invention I believe.

'Cordin to my dictionary, the word is Latin, adapted from a Greek word, which in turn had adapted that word from Hebrew.

The device has been historically important in Oriental cultures, but I suspect it had parallel development in many places.

David McNeely