Dr. Michael Amaral is a surgeon with the Gwinnett Medical Center’s Brain and Spine Institute. Amaral, 59, has been practicing medicine since 1976. The former pilot and author enjoys reading about subjects from chess to mathematics to philosophy, and hopes to one day prove a connection between general relativity and quantum physics. In his words, he “just like(s) to know how things work.” He has been married to his wife, Michelle, a registered nurse, for 10 years. They have one son, 10-year-old Mason.

Did you always want to become a doctor?

“I first wanted to be a cartoonist, but there were a few kids in my class who were better at drawing. I could draw, but they were a little better. Then I wanted to be an astrophysicist … a friend of the family in Paris got me interested in medicine.”

About how he met his wife, Michelle:

“I met her at midnight. She was finishing up some charts and I was looking for some chocolate milk. After about 10 seconds I felt like she was the one … she said give me your number and I’ll think about it. She had her mother do some background to make sure I wasn’t hitting on other nurses; I wasn’t.”

On what he does to relax:

“Surgery is mostly with your hands. It’s with your brain, too, but I like to something intellectual to relax … I study theoretical physics for relaxing … I’ve written a couple of screen plays, but they weren’t published. I like art. Anything that has vivid colors.”

What kind of music do you enjoy?

“It changes with my moods. From classic to rap to heavy rock.”

About his book, “Being 81, Feeling 18″:

“It is about how to minimize injury, from my own experience as a spine surgeon and from personal experience. There’s nothing in daily life that builds the back, which may play a role in people getting arthritis of the spine.”

Something people might not know about you:

“I love comic books, I’m a big sucker for comic books. I love the French comics I grew up on. I love Spider-Man. When I was young, so I would do no mischief, (my parents) would put a pile of comic books and I would go nowhere. They would sell them by the pound in France.”

On his goals in life:

“When I turned 50 I asked myself two things: ‘What are my chances of living as long as I have?’ and ‘Will I accomplish everything I wanted to do?’ … If you haven’t, you better start now.”