Article about Brian in The Guardian

27 Jul 2007

Maev Kennedy
as published: Tuesday July 24, 2007
The Guardian

All in all, a mountain top in the Canaries seems alluring these days - particularly with a doctoral thesis to present within a fortnight, after 36 gap years. Brian May has put down his guitar (be calm, fans, it's only temporary) and picked up his telescope again. Last night and tonight he is with the team at the giant telescope of the Roque de los Muchachos observatory on La Palma. He made the last observations for his thesis from nearby Tenerife, but soon afterwards told his Imperial College London tutor he was taking a break from his studies, to join a college band which really did quite well.

There were raised eyebrows last year when he promised to finish the thesis, as he, Sir Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott published Bang! The Complete History of the Universe - but he's nearly there, and has undertaken to hand it in next month. In La Palma, astrophysicist Garik Israelian said: "I have no doubt that Brian May would have had a brilliant career in science had he completed his PhD in 1971. Nevertheless as a fan of Queen I am glad that he left science temporarily."

view all latest newsitems