'The physicist' is F Todd Baker. He received AB and MA degrees from Miami University and a PhD degree from the University of Michigan. His area of research is nuclear physics and has published more than 70 articles in refereed journals as well as given numerous presentations at conferences and workshops. He has more than 35 years of college and university teaching experience. In 2006 he retired from the University of Georgia where he taught and performed nuclear physics research for 32 years. Previously, he held a postdoctoral research associate position at Rutgers University and teaching positions at Carroll College (Wisconsin) and St Lawrence University. He now lives in Athens, Georgia, with his wife Sara in a 100-year-old house mainly restored by him and decorated and landscaped by her. He has four beloved children aged 18-45 years. He enjoys cycling around town, playing violin, cooking and baking, outdoor activities, DIY projects, films, music of many genres, working puzzles, reading mainly European murder mysteries, and hanging out in coffee houses.