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Brian May, Rock Legend, Soon-To-Be Astrophysicist
xPsi writes "Brian May, the guitarist for the legendary rock band Queen (age 60), has finally decided to submit his Ph.D. thesis in astrophysics. The title is 'Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud.' From the article: 'May was studying astrophysics at Imperial College when he formed Queen with singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor in 1970. He dropped his doctorate research into interstellar dust as the band met with increasing success.' And, hey, if this whole Rock-n-Roll thing doesn't pan out, at least he'll have something to fall back on."
Instead of a party animal and physicist who spent a lot of time drumming, here's a drummer who's taken advantage of the world around him, and is contributing to man's exploration of astrophysics. Very cool.
Oh, and if you're ever interested in a superb read about a real life nerd superstar, check out "Surely, You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"
Ryan Fenton
He never really dabbed into drugs, nor did most of the band (from what I've read...)
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_May quote -
"...May dislikes smoking, even to the point where he specifically prohibits smoking indoors at his more recent concerts."
As well as
"His avoidance of alcohol can be traced to an early concert where Queen played with the band Aerosmith, and May had a conversation with fellow guitarist Joe Perry backstage. Perry brought out a bottle of whisky, which the two drank between themselves. May felt so unpleasant during the concert that he promised himself never to have more than one drink before playing."
May will soon join the ranks of Ph.D.-holding rockers including Milo Aukerman of the Descendents and Greg Graffin of Bad Religion. Dexter Holland of The Offspring was a Ph.D. candidate as well; unfortunately he did not complete his degree.
Many kudos to May, as his musical talent has been a gift to the world. Similarly, he will give outstanding contributions to the scientific community in the future.
The only lasting physical or mental damage that comes from using opiates are things which are not directly caused by the drug, i.e. one might neglect dental hygiene, proper nutrition, safe sex practices, etc. due to being preoccupied with obtaining more heroin.
Of course, back then, that was quite a bit of money for a teenage boy.
Equivalent to about GBP250 US$500 in today's economy, according to this calculator.
the pun is mightier than the sword
For example, the bass player and singer of French death metal band Carcariass has a PhD in CS, and publishes research on distributed numerical techniques. Not only that, he's been working and publishing while the band has been releasing new CDs...
To within half a percent, pi seconds is a nanocentury. -- Tom Duff
Sorry, what you're saying is a bit misleading. While the opus that leads ultimately to a Ph.D. is formally called a dissertation, it is colloquially (and almost universally, in the program that I was in) referred to as a thesis, by people who are actually in the thick of doing it: "Christ, I'm *never* going to finish this *$&#! thesis."
Websters defines thesis (definition 4) as: "a dissertation embodying results of original research and especially substantiating a specific view; especially : one written by a candidate for an academic degree."
Kind of a pointless post, I know, but I thought I'd mention it . . . And, from an aging Ph.D. holder to an even older candidate: Hooray for you, Brian May! What a kickass (and inspiring) story. Apparently, 60 really *is* the new 30 . . .
Peter Weller, of Buckaroo Banzai (and Robocop) fame, is an athlete, a jazz musician and a professor of Roman and Renaissance art at Syracuse University. No word yet on race car driving.
Peter Weller