Thursday, July 17, 2008

Jack of all trades and master of some??

We meet again :D

Maybe curiosity surround when someone look at my blog headline

"wish to be jack of many trades and master of some"

what is exactly mean?

well.. it was written in opening page of an extractive metallurgy textbook (written by Prof Terkel Rosenqvist). He said that (if I`m not mistaken because I forgot the exact words) a metallurgist should be jack of many trades and master of some. At first I dont understand what does the phrase mean, but with a help from google and wiki, I managed to solve the mystery :p

From wiki :

"Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used in reference to a person who is competent with many skills but is not outstanding in any one. The term has become a cliché and often used as an insult in its current form, which is only half of the quote. The full quote, "Jack of all trades, master of none, though ofttimes better than master of one,"[citation needed] is actually a compliment, though the term stemming from it, just 'Jack of all trades' is usually seen as a compliment to someone who can adapt to most situations.

A Jack of all trades may also be a master of integration, as the individual knows enough from many learned trades and skills to be able to bring their disciplines together in a practical manner. Such a person is known as a polymath or a Renaissance man, and a typical example is someone like Leonardo da Vinci.

So it is a pun from an established idiom. Metallurgist should be know several things outside his field as a metallurgist and he manages to become expert in some of it (including his own field, of course :p).

Speaking of this wordplay, I remember an anecdote from my undergrad year in Bandung Institute of tech (ITB) which stated that an ITB student is an expert in many areas but excluding his own field, :O . Well sometimes it could be right, because I know someone with a astronomical background but he becomes an expert in military and intelligence things :D

How about me? well I`m not too expert in metallurgy, I just know several things (look at my CGPA). Beside metallurgy I also have an interest in historical things and love to read about it. But I dont think I`m an expert in this subject also.. :p. Anyway, since I`m doing research in semi-solid metal forming of steel (thixoforming) as my postgrad research subject, hopefully I can become an expert in this field. Ameen.....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow. afzal punya blog.. :D

The Observer said...

selamat.. anda penulis comment pertama.. hehehehe

Anonymous said...

eh ada bang afzal..=)
baru tau, ada juga yang nulis quote nya rosenqvist..=p
bagus..