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Brian May, Rock Legend, Soon-To-Be Astrophysicist
Posted by
Zonk
on Sat Jul 28, 2007 03:35 AM
from the we-are-the-champions-my-friend dept.
from the we-are-the-champions-my-friend dept.
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."
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Geek Stars From Atkinson to Zappa 320 comments
Ian Lamont writes "You probably remember reading about Brian May getting a PhD in Astrophysics, but may not know about the many other celebrities from the music, TV, and film worlds who have studied science and technology in college and grad school, or are simply serious gearheads who like gadgets, games, and other geek pastimes. Computerworld has identified about 50 celebrities who fit the bill, including Dan Grimaldi (Patsy Parisi, The Sopranos) who has a Bachelor of Arts degree in math, a master's in operations research and a Ph.D. in data processing; Rowan Atkinson, who has a master's in electrical engineering from Queen's College, Oxford; and Todd Rundgren, who developed an early paint program called Utopia. Other folks on the list: Dr. Demento, Montel Williams, Natalie Portman, Curt Schilling, and Huey Lewis."
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At last! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:At last! (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Studies (Score:5, Insightful)
It is never too late for scholarly accomplishment and is encouraging to see folks go back to finish work begun many years prior or even to begin studies later than would be traditionally done. I'd like to think that if I can achieve a certain financial independence that I'd complete a second Ph.D. later in life in a field completely unrelated to the one I am working in now. Perhaps something cool like history...
On top of that, perhaps Dr. May's degree will help focus a little positive attention on science given that many in politics these days seem to have made us scientists out to be the boogey man/woman.
Re:Studies (Score:5, Funny)
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Buckaroo Banzai (Score:5, Interesting)
It sounds like he is a real life Buckaroo Banzai, like in the 1984 movie "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension." Buckaroo Banazi was a rock star, particle physicist, neurosurgeon, and race car driver. So, it really is possible to do all that! That was the movie where Earth was invaded by aliens flew around in space ships which looked like giant sea shells.
Buckaroo Banzai [wikipedia.org]
Parent
Re:Studies (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, that is one of the most ignorant things I've heard today... Am I misunderstanding the sentiment or just what is it that you are trying to say?
I've never seen why people feel they need a "second" PhD.
It is not about the piece of paper that says PhD. Rather, it is the level of accomplishment that the doctorate represents.
So in fact what you really want to do is read for a BA (or BSc) in a new area - just do it at a good university (which unfortunately rules out most).
Actually, well run doctorate programs provide not just the place for students to learn at, but other individuals/colleagues/mentors in that field of study who can challenge you and help direct your studies far beyond what is available to most undergraduate departments. The academic rigor of doctoral programs far surpasses the more casual familiarity with material and the expectations are much higher as well which is what many folks who love learning are after, particularly if the field of their interest is far away from their area of formal training.
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Re:Studies (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Studies (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Studies (Score:5, Insightful)
Look out, Stephen Hawking! I got my god particle hanging right here.
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Re:Studies (Score:5, Funny)
You can't be American, as no yank should get anything in English until they can spell centre correctly
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Re:Studies (Score:5, Funny)
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He recently released a book as well. (Score:5, Insightful)
http://www.banguniverse.com/ [banguniverse.com]
How cool is it that after all of the concerts, the world tours, the money, that he completes a life project like this?
How many people that attain the level that Queen rose to, would just spend their time spending the money?
I think it's awesome that he's going to finish up.
Re:He recently released a book as well. (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:He recently released a book as well. (Score:4, Insightful)
Or worse, re-form Queen with some twit replacing Freddie ...
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Re:He recently released a book as well. (Score:4, Interesting)
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Brian May's current work (Score:5, Interesting)
Patrick Moore is extremely old and sooner or later will permanently stop presenting the show. Brian May is appearing on the show more and more frequently as time goes by. Someone is needed who (a) knows astronomy and physics thoroughly enough to maintain standards, and who (b) can hold the attention of an audience. I spy a candidate...
Parent
Oh dear... (Score:4, Funny)
Nothing really matters, Anyone can see ... (Score:5, Funny)
Nothing really matters to me
Any way the stellar wind blows
He also built his own guitar ... from a fireplace (Score:5, Interesting)
For example: "The tremolo system is made from an old hardened-steel knife-edge shaped into a V and two motorbike valve springs to counter the string tension."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Special [wikipedia.org]
Reminds me of Richard Feynman... (Score:5, Informative)
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!" [amazon.com]
Ryan Fenton
I have a New Role Model . . . (Score:4, Funny)
39 and Time Dilation (Score:5, Interesting)
http://woodside.blogs.com/cosmologycuriosity/2006/ 05/queens_39_and_r.html [blogs.com]
http://cosmicvariance.com/2006/04/26/relatively-pl easant/ [cosmicvariance.com]
Not interstellar... probably (Score:5, Interesting)
It's interesting to note that very little has been done on the zodiacal light since he started his PhD work in the early 70s. However, the next generation of cosmic microwave background satellites like Planck [esa.int] will need improved knowledge of foreground dust so that its contaminating emission can be removed. This has added new interest and impetus to the kind of studies that Brian May is resurrecting.
Re:He can still think! (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:He can still think! (Score:4, Insightful)
Anyway, the most common - and probably most destructive - drug used by musicians is...alcohol!
Parent