Expertise
In the late 1970s, as the sun blazed down outside, I'd frequently be found indoors with blackouts over the windows, working by a dim green light as I tried to investigate the biochemistry underlying the way in which a plant, Xanthium strumarium, was able to tell how long the days were, triggering flowering. Day after day, the same experiments, ultimately proving fruitless. So, I'm a PhD failure! But it did give me an insight into the nature of expertise. To a layperson, the title 'Dr', whether medical or philosophical, carries significant cachet. It certainly isn't nothing - let no-one accuse me of 'PhD envy'! However, if I'd succeeded, I would have become more expert in a very narrow topic - the biochemical response of a plant to light duration, specifically in relation to the enzyme tocopherol oxidase. It would have made me no more expert in my degree subject, biochemistry, than the graduate degree that preceded it. If I'd combined my research with...