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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.
Sure beats getting coked out and dying in a gutter like some other rock legends.
Peart is a fantastic writer. If he put out a thesis in anything I'd take a look just because it'll be an interesting read.
Now a PhD becoming a rock legend on the other hand. That would be news! Becoming a rock legend is not an ordinary everyday occurrence.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
Authors usually don't choose those prices, and a price like that generally reflects a low confidence that anyone besides libraries will purchase this work. In this case it seems like a strategic error; I bet there's a huge market for this among fans of his music if it were say $25. But I don't see how that market can be very large at this price point. I suppose once they notice interest in it they might consider releasing it in paperback. But a $71 price tag is generally not something an author wants to see on their published dissertation. I'm surprised he didn't negotiate something different though.
I'm so glad that there's always someone to explain all these liberal egg-head jokes around here to me.