Fredrik Rosing Bull
| Fredrik Rosing Bull | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 25, 1882 Kristiania, Norway |
| Died | 7 June 1925 (aged 42) |
| Residence | Norway |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Known for | The Bull machine |
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Fredrik Rosing Bull (25 December 1882 – 7 June 1925) was an information technology pioneer, known for his work on improved punched card machines.
Bull was born in Kristiania (Oslo, Norway). In 1907 he finished his studies in civil engineering at the Technical School of Kristiania (Kristiania Tekniske Skole). In 1916 he was hired as a technical inspector for the insurance company Storebrand, where he developed an interest for punched card machines technology and began developing one of his own. In 1919 he obtained a patent for the machine, and in 1921 he prepared a team that took over the implementation of the machine at the company where Bull worked at that time, Storebrand. This team provided several new ideas for improving the Bull machine, rendering it superior to Hollerith's device - the precursor to the IBM punched card machine - in use at that time. Bull continued to develop his ideas, improving the machine, which became a success throughout Europe. He was diagnosed with cancer at an early age and died in 1925 when he was 42 years old. His patents were later sold in 1931 and constituted the basis for the founding of the French company Groupe Bull, a large information technology company operating in over 100 countries.
Fredrik Bull was born in Kristiania (the present-day Oslo) to Dr. Ole Bornemann Bull (1842–1916) and his first wife Marie Cathrine Lund (1843–1884). Dr. Ole Bull was a renowned eye doctor. He collaborated with Gerhard Armauer Hansen who discovered Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy, while investigating the effects of leprosy on the eyes. He is also known for having developed a method to determine the degree of sensation of color.
Fredrik was raised in a large family. He was the eighth of fifteen children. The Bull family had a passion for technology and science: all of Fredrik's older brothers were engineers. His brother Anders Henrik Bull is known for his studies in wireless radiotelegraphy.
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