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My name is Norman Tolk.
I'm a physics professor here at Vanderbilt in Tennessee.
There are lots of wild people who are physicists—
wild-haired, play bongo drums.
My job is the greatest in the world.
My expertise is the interaction of laser light with materials.
They're strong. They're very powerful. One of my colleagues
discovered a magic wavelength that cuts through
human flesh without collateral damage.
I mean, what could be more fun than that?
And they actually pay us to do this.
1, 2, 3, 4.
I'm passionate about music just as I am about physics.
My wife and I met; our common interests were music and art.
We started a tradition of doing the "Messiah."
The first "Messiah" we did,
we had a row of nuns in the front row
and some of our Jewish friends—
all bound together by a common love of Handel's music.
It's a thing that cuts through all ethnic and religious views.
I'm a man of faith. And I'm also a scientist.
To many people, that appears to be an inherent conflict.
But it's not. My faith is a source of inspiration and energy.
It unifies our knowledge of where and who we are.
I've been able to develop certain talents
that I wouldn't have done without the
influence of God, the influence of my faith.
My name is Norman Tolk.
And I'm a museum. Museum? (laughs)
Can we start again? I may be a museum too.
I'm a musician. I'm a physics professor.
I am a father. I'm a grandfather with 17 grandkids.
I play with lasers. And I'm a Mormon.