Although he may be the latest in a long, long line of metallurgists, Jack Arden doesn't come across as the brightest bulb. He speaks simply and coarsely, he's not too good with anything but the simplest humour, and he doesn't often grasp the complex motivations of others, but his knowledge of metals is genuinely unparalleled, even if he does consider the work less than fulfilling.
Arden is a member of the First Seven, the group who would eventually found the covert government organization Sector Seven.