Queen’s Brian May Publishes Thesis

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A while back, we learned Brian May had resumed his studies on the subject of astrophysics. I don’t know how a guy can work on a thesis and a new album at the same time, but he’s obviously a more ambitious guy than most. Being a rock star and and astrophysicist, although an odd combination perhaps, is no trivial accomplishment.

The latest academic achievement for May is the publication of his PhD thesis, entitled A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud (say that three times fast!). The work is  on the subject of what happens to the dust particles left over from the formation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.Brian May

The thesis, which is includes more than 200 pages of stuff most of us wouldn’t understand, or perhaps even care about, was well received by those charged with judging its worthiness.

Brian Cox, a physics professor at Manchester University certainly seemed impressed, and commented that "Brian May’s achievement is amazing. People do not realize just how much hard work goes into a PhD.

Ironically, Cox himself was involved with music at one point during his life when he joined up with a band called D:Ream, a Northern Ireland pop/rock act that actually had a hit single that occupied the number 1 spot on the U.K. singles chart for four weeks during 1994. Cox played keyboard for the group while he continued his PhD studies.

May first began work on the thesis in 1970 when he decided to put his academic ambitions on hold when Queen started to get some traction and appeared to be headed for big things. The completion of that thesis that was started some 38 years ago suggests that Brian May is a man who does not like to leave things unfinished.

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