Brian May, Rock Legend, Publishes His Thesis

A year ago we took note when Brian May, guitarist for Queen for the last 30 years, submitted his thesis for a Ph.D. in astrophysics. The news now is that the thesis has been published. You, too, can read all about the population of tiny asteroids and space dust that cause the Zodiacal light. The completed thesis appears as the book "A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud" (Springer and Canopus Publishing Ltd., 2008), available at Amazon for $71.96. May was awarded his Ph.D. last summer and accepted a position as chancellor at a British university in November.

And he still plays!

[Master of Transhuman]

Andrea Corr & Brian May performing "Is This The World We Created?" at the Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Concert at Hyde Park on June 27th 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amG-3BiiEu8 [youtube.com]

My opinion

[DrugCheese]

I didn't read the article, but Brian May is one of the greatest unsung guitar heroes still alive.

Re:Rock music

[Pseudonym]

Someone else mentioned Milo. Brian Cox is probably the most hard-core. He used to be the keyboard player in Dare and D:ream and once got into a bar fight with Jimmy Page. He is now a full-on professor of physics. But you're kinda right. It's actually more common for scientists to be classical or jazz musicians.

Re:Beyond impressed

[porcupine8]

Not a musician, but Mayim Bialik ("Blossom") got her PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA last year. She's still working as an actress, too - mostly voice work in cartoons and guest appearances. As a theater major getting a science PhD, I keep an eye out for these types, they're definitely inspirational. :)

Re:Too pricey

[reset_button]

I just paid $60 for a copy of MY OWN dissertation! Five years of hard work and then my university makes me pay $200+ for copyright and publishing, then charges me another $60 to get a copy!

Re:Full thesis title

[Eccles]

Unnecessary. Open your eyes, look up to the skies, and seeeee...

Re:I quite My Astrophysics PhD To Work In Music...

[tyrione]

I moved from Ireland to California to work at a company called myplay.com and later moved to Napster. Now I'm at imeem.com

I still entertain some deep down belief that one day I might return to astrophysics and submit my thesis, maybe if one of these internet music companies finally make me some money.

(of course, even if I stopped work tomorrow I now have young kids to take care of...)

You may know Astrophysics, Quarks, Blackholes and more, but you'd think it's very simple to figure out which companies make money off of music via the Internet. Give me an A! Give me a P! Give me another P! Give me a L! Give me an E! What's that spell? MONEY.

Besides there are quite a few Astrophysicists, including former SETI folks that work at Apple so you won't be the only one orbiting the campus.

Re:Rock music

[1u3hr]

It's actually more common for scientists to be classical or jazz musicians.

Richard Feynman was a pretty serious bongo drummer.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWabhnt91Uc [youtube.com]
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKTSaezB4p8 [youtube.com]

Re:Rock music

[FishWithAHammer]

There's also Greg Graffin [wikipedia.org] of Bad Religion, too. Life Sciences professor at UCLA.

Re:Too pricey

[sunny256]

Queen sucks! They are the worst band I've ever heard (tied with Rush and Avril Lavigne). Does anyone actully listen to them? And if so, why?!?

Well, they were declared "best British band [bbc.co.uk]" by listeners of BBC2 (20.000 votes total), and came on second place [mr-mercury.co.uk] in another contest (600.000 votes total).

You may not like the music, but you're hardly in a position to say they suck.

He's also a /.-alike geek...

[Moredhel]

Or I'd guess so, having stood next to him in a toy shop (The Entertainer in Camberley, UK) selecting Star Wars figures, presumably for our respective kids, but you never know ;O)

Re:May's song on relativistic time dilation

[aedan]

'39 is also the 39th track on Queen's albums.