Open Questions
As I researched the content for this history of Questar, on several occasions I fell short of finding answers to several questions. Rather than let a lack of information stop me from sharing what I had already learned, I assembled the following list of outstanding issues.
Chapter 1. Lawrence Braymer and the Emergence of the Questar Telescope
While there is no doubt that Lawrence Braymer was associated with optical designer Norbert Schell, what remains unknown are the details of their first years being associated with each other. What effect did Schell have on Braymer’s thinking between the time he became acquainted with Schell in the mid- to late 1930s and the point at which he and Schell began to collaborate in earnest in the mid-1940s? Was this only a period of casual or friendly contact, or did the two start talking more as business partners?
At what point in time did Braymer abandon plans for a five-inch Questar?
How did Braymer become acquainted with Thomas Cave, and how did the two agree to make the initial optics sets for Questar?
Chapter 2. The Early Years
What prompted Questar to change its serial numbering convention in 1957? Why did the company change from a single-number system (e.g., “123”) to one that used the last digit of the year that an instrument was built (e.g., “7-456” with “7” representing “1957”)?
What patents, if any, did John Gregory obtain for his adaptation of Dmitri Maksutov’s design? See this discussion for more information.
Questar Advertisements
Questar advertisements appeared in the following publications:
| Publication | Known Years | Ad Count |
|---|---|---|
| Sky and Telescope | 1954-2005 | 548 |
| Audubon | 1956-1967 | 19 |
| Nature | 1958-1959 | 8 |
| Natural History | 1958-1981 | 184 |
| Holiday | 1959 | 3 |
| Scientific American | 1959-1991 | 380 |
| Catholic Educator | 1960 | 6 |
| Review of Popular Astronomy | 1960-1961 | 5 |
| Camera 35 | 1962-1974 | 8 |
| Modern Photography | 1962-1981 | 225 |
| Analog Science Fiction and Fact | 1963 | 7 |
| Science Teacher | 1967 | 1 |
| Science News | 1969-1973 | 6 |
| Construction Contracting | 1970 | 1 |
| Planetarium | 1972-1973 | 4 |
| Industrial Research & Development | 1975-1986 | 25 |
| MIT Technology Review | 1976 | 1 |
| Smithsonian | 1977-1982 | 51 |
| Petersen’s Photographic | 1977-1978 | 5 |
| American Photographer | 1979 | 3 |
| Astronomy | 1979-2003 | 72 |
| Science Digest | 1979-1980 | 3 |
| Science 80 | 1980 | 3 |
| Biomedical Communications | 1983 | 2 |
| Lasers & Optronics | 1985-1987 | 5 |
| British Birds | 1988 | 2 |
| NASA Tech Briefs | 1992-1993 | 5 |
| Explore the Universe | 2000 | 1 |
Did the company publish advertisments in any other magazine?
Company Seven reports that Questar ran advertisements in National Geographic magazine. The authors who contributed to the Wikipedia article on Questar Corporation likely picked up on this. But as I posted on Cloudy Nights on October 17, 2019, and January 27, 2020, I have never come across any evidence that this is in fact true. But just because I cannot find evidence does not mean that that evidence does not exist. Did Questar indeed publish advertisements in National Geographic?