My last post about Brian May provoked unprecedented levels of discussion (ie 6 posts in reply, none of them by me) and raised many questions which I have investigated using the power of Google. The truth appears to be:

1) Brian May got a BSc (not PhD) in maths and physics from Imperial College; I can’t track down the year but it must have been 1970 or 1971 (he started in 1967).

2) Queen were more a London college band than an Imperial College band. Roger Taylor graduated in biology from the then Polytechnic of North London, John Deacon in electronics from the Chelsea College of Art & Design, and Freddie Mercury in Graphic Art & Design from Ealing College of Art.

3) One website claims that Brain May “wrote up” his PhD in infra red astronomy in 1974 but never submitted it.

4) His honorary Doctorate in Science from the University of Hertfordshire was awarded in November 2002 “in recognition of his life-long contribution to music”.

5) Freddie Mercury was a Zoroastrian. (See earlier note on Baku.)

6) Brian May’s quote about astronomy is one I can personally relate to:

“Astronomy’s much more fun when you’re not an astronomer. Most of the time while I was studying was spent either making equipment, setting it up of else typing away at computers trying to analyse the results. The amount of time actually looking at the stars is minimal. So now in my spare time, I love to peer through telescopes.”