PhD Will, PhD Will Rock You

Queen guitarist, 60, submits astronomy thesis after 36 years
By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 3, 2007 2:04 PM CDT
PhD Will, PhD Will Rock You
Queen guitarist Brian May, left, hands in his completed doctral thesis on "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud" to Professor Paul Nandra, head of Astrophysics at Imperial College in central London Friday Aug. 3, 2007. Queen guitarist Brian May finally handed in his completed thesis Friday...   (Associated Press)

Queen guitarist Brian May dropped his academic pursuits to tour the globe as a young rock star, but after 36 years he has finally handed in his PhD thesis, which he began researching in 1972. The 60-year-old aspiring astrophysicist delivered a 48,000-word study on "zodiacal dust clouds" to Imperial College in London today, the BBC reports.

"It was a tough decision back then to leave my studies for music," said the prolific songwriter, author of iconic Queen hits and co-author of a children's science book released last year. A fellow astrophysicist says of May's career choice, "As a fan of Queen, I am glad that he left science temporarily." (More music stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X