mickoking
04-08-2007, 11:30 AM
I found this interesting article this morning
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/04/1996713.htm
Queen guitarist's thesis out of this world
Queen guitarist Brian May has handed in his doctoral thesis, more than 30 years after first starting the academic dissertation on a highly specialised area of astronomy.
May started the thesis at Imperial College, London, in 1974, but shelved it when his musical career with the band headed by legendary showman Freddie Mercury took off.
He finally returned to it last year, and completed the 48,000-word extended dissertation after dusting off the manuscript left for over three decades in the loft of his Surrey home.
On Friday he handed in the thesis, called "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud", to Imperial's head of astrophysics Professor Paul Nandra. Once assessors have read it he faces an oral exam on the work later this month.
"It's been the longest gap year ever," the 60-year-old musician said, cited by the BBC. "It was a tough decision back then to leave my studies for music.
"I will have two experts in the field who will now grill me and probably give me hell... I've been used to getting my own way but with this I had to buckle down and be a student and do what I was told.
"I did a lot of scratching my head," he added.
May, who famously played the national anthem on the top of Buckingham Palace at a party for Queen Elizabeth II's golden jubilee celebrations, has not completely neglected astronomy during his musical career.
He recently co-wrote a children's science book with astronomer Sir Patrick Moore, and last month received an honorary doctorate at Exeter University in southwest England.
May is due to be quizzed by an academic panel on his PhD thesis on August 23, and their decision is expected shortly afterwards.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/04/1996713.htm
Queen guitarist's thesis out of this world
Queen guitarist Brian May has handed in his doctoral thesis, more than 30 years after first starting the academic dissertation on a highly specialised area of astronomy.
May started the thesis at Imperial College, London, in 1974, but shelved it when his musical career with the band headed by legendary showman Freddie Mercury took off.
He finally returned to it last year, and completed the 48,000-word extended dissertation after dusting off the manuscript left for over three decades in the loft of his Surrey home.
On Friday he handed in the thesis, called "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud", to Imperial's head of astrophysics Professor Paul Nandra. Once assessors have read it he faces an oral exam on the work later this month.
"It's been the longest gap year ever," the 60-year-old musician said, cited by the BBC. "It was a tough decision back then to leave my studies for music.
"I will have two experts in the field who will now grill me and probably give me hell... I've been used to getting my own way but with this I had to buckle down and be a student and do what I was told.
"I did a lot of scratching my head," he added.
May, who famously played the national anthem on the top of Buckingham Palace at a party for Queen Elizabeth II's golden jubilee celebrations, has not completely neglected astronomy during his musical career.
He recently co-wrote a children's science book with astronomer Sir Patrick Moore, and last month received an honorary doctorate at Exeter University in southwest England.
May is due to be quizzed by an academic panel on his PhD thesis on August 23, and their decision is expected shortly afterwards.