At long last, the final final version of my Gödel book went to the publishers this afternoon. I’ve been taking advantage of a quite unexpected chance to make changes until the last moment — and I think that some that I’ve made in the last month have been quite significant improvements. But now I really do have to stop. And indeed a pile of tripos papers arrived to mark which will prevent me neurotically worrying about stuff that it is too late to change anyway!
It’s an odd feeling, finally letting go. On the whole,as I’ve said before, I’m pretty pleased with the result. To be sure, if I were starting afresh I’d handle a few things a bit differently; and it will be interesting to see if the few sections that still bug me as being really too skimpy technically or philosophically are the ones which reviewers pick up on. But I’m not sure that I could really have sorted them out without making a long book (already at the limits of CUP’s patience) quite a bit longer. So the book will have to take its chances as is!
Phew! A glass or three of Caol Ila seems in order …