From Gamma 2 to Gamma E.T.: The Birth of Electronic Computing at Bull

Abstract

In 1949 the bull company created a team of electronics engineers. Two of them traveled to the U.S.A. in order to become acquainted with recent achievements in electronic computing. In 1951, they developed the Gamma 2 calculator, based on germanium diodes and delay lines and designed to be connected to the Bull BS tabulator for business applications. A commercial version, the Gamma 3, marketed in 1952, became a bestseller. Different models followed, including in 1956 the drum-augmented "Gamma E.T.," Bull's first stored-program computer.