Expert: Understanding the Path to Mastery

Roger Kneebone is a legend—Mark Miodownik, author of Stuff MattersFascinating and inspiring—Financial TimesThe doctor stitching together medicine and art—GuardianExamines the ubiquitous, but understudied, process of becoming an expert—Richard Webb, New ScientistRoger Kneebone has an insatiable desire to understand what makes people tick and for years has scratched this itch by bringing together countless interesting people to share their experience and knowledge. This book on experts is a wonderful manifestation of what he has learnt. If you want to do anything better, from surgery to embroidery, you can learn something from this book—Christopher Peters FRCS, Clinical Senior Lecturer and Consultant Upper GI and General Surgeon, Imperial College LondonRoger Kneebone describes a journey that has no short cuts and no end. He tracks the inside story of becoming an expert, documenting a time line that stretches from the state of knowing nothing to passing on the wisdom of a lifetime. He draws out common themes between his experiences as a medical student, surgeon, GP, educator, academic, harpsichord player and sometime juggler with those of men and women working creatively in design studios, workshops and performance spaces, all of them now experts in their own fields. His refutation of the view that experts are an irrelevant, 'useless elite' is compelling and chilling in equal measure. Whisper it quietly, but post COVID-19, there is a growing realisation that experts do matter. I wish this book had been available when I was a student – it is full of wisdom, insight, humanity and encouragement. We should all aim to cross the 'ha-ha'—Susan Standring, Emeritus Professor of Anatomy, King's College LondonRoger Kneebone is our foremost expert on expertise. Expert is a desperately important book at a moment when we've begun to wonder just what we might still be good at—Ken Arnold, Head of Public Programmes at Wellcome CollectionIn a world awash with knowledge, we are in danger of forgetting what it means to be wise. Where knowledge arms us against the onslaughts of the world, wisdom disarms. It takes the risk opening up, to listen and attend, not presuming we already know. Wisdom puts others before ourselves. In this superbly written, passionately argued and very necessary book, Roger Kneebone contends that wisdom, more than knowledge, is the mark of the expert. In whatever vocation, as he shows us, becoming expert is a never-ending, lifelong task. But anyone can commit to it. Those who do should be an example to us all—Tim Ingold, University of AberdeenMy time spent studying and working in Japan has left me with a deep appreciation for the importance of skill and the mystery of its acquisition. How do we navigate that path from knowing nothing to being able to pass on precious knowledge and experience to the next generation? Roger Kneebone is a supremely thoughtful and sensitive companion on that journey.—Rebecca Salter RA, President of Royal Academy of ArtsVividly practical—Andrew Robinson, NatureThe pandemic has made the necessity of relying on experts evident to all . . . this is a rich exploration of lifelong learning . . . Kneebone's skills as a science communicator and "expert on experts" are unparalleled. His writing conveys warmth, humility and a deep compassion—Fay Bound Alberti, GuardianVivid, hopeful, fascinating . . . not the familiar story of individual excellence . . . Kneebone offers models for a more fulfilling life—Tanya Harrod, ProspectThis fascinating corrective to the dangerous emergence of "instant experts" draws on examples of the hard graft of real experts, from tailors to stonemasons—Andrew Hill, Financial Times, Best books of 2020: Business