Canopus Research was originally created and registered as a sole proprietorship in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1982 by William F. Zachmann. It became Mr. Zachmann’s primary base of business operations in 1988 when he resigned his position as Senior Vice President, Corporate Research, International Data Corporation (IDC) in Framingham, Massachusetts.

The company was named for the star Canopus. Canopus is the second brightest star in the sky (only Sirius is of greater magnitude) and the second most important navigational star (after Polaris, the “north star”). Canopus was also the name of a town in the Nile delta in ancient Egypt and said to be the name of Odysseus’ (Ulysses’) navigator (‘kybernos’ in Greek, the word from which ‘cybernetics’ and many other modern words related to information technology are derived) on the Argo.

The Super-Constellation Argos

The star Canopus is part of what was originally the ‘super-constellation’ Argos (Argo Navis) which was made up of three currently recognized constellations which make up the sail, the hull, and the keel of the vessel. Canopus is part of the constellation Carina (the keel).

Canopus Research was founded in 1982 as a company to offer ‘navigational guidance’ to those who hazard the waters of the digital age.

The company was incorporated on July 5, 2002 as Canopus Research Inc., an S Corporation based in Duxbury, Massachusetts.