Marshalling the grey cells …

You now know why I wrapped up work on Introducing Category Theory a bit prematurely, and paperbacked what I frankly admitted was/is a beta version, broadly functional but surely not bug-free. I got an earlier-than-expected slot for my scheduled heart operation, and just didn’t know when (or indeed if) I would be up for returning to improve the book as I would like. I suspected, rightly, that — at the least — concentration and energy would be in pretty short supply for a while!

Let me toot my own trumpet (go on, cut the convalescent some slack here!). There are, I’ve just today discovered, some cheeringly nice remarks about the book (or at least about earlier draft PDF versions) out there in some discussion forums. For example “I think Peter Smith’s book on category theory … is probably the best introduction there is. It’s very carefully written (Smith is a logician), and Smith is very good at explaining what is actually going on.” “My favourite introduction to category theory is Peter Smith’s notes. They are very gentle, and Smith does a good job of highlighting conceptual and foundational issues without it detracting from the mathematics.”  “By far the best place to start, I think, is Peter Smith’s category theory notes.” “If you do struggle with the category theory, I really recommend Peter Smith’s notes. Smith is a logician and philosopher, and he is really good at explicating the conceptual aspects of category theory, not just the technical parts.” And there’s also a recent Amazon review of the book version of Part I: “The ideal starting point for category theory. Perfect for beginners. If you’re more seasoned, just read faster and supplement with “industrial-grade” readings.” 

Those comments are really good to see. I make no claim for the notes other than that they are written up a bit more in the style of an elementary logic text than is usual. Of course, they will be too slow-moving, too pedestrian, for many. But it seems that some others, as I hoped, will appreciate the gentle approach.

I’d thought that post-operation recovery days would give a lot of time for catching up on reading some recently published novels. Not so! Levels of concentration have indeed not been great. But also — a more interesting phenomenon — I’ve found that,  now it comes to it, I’ve wanted instead to re-visit old favourites. So, just as in hospital I found myself watching the TV news and some other factual programmes more often that usual, as if wanting to re-anchor myself to the real world as the after-effects of anaesthesia and morphine wore off, so I find myself wanting to be back for a few chapters in Barchester, or in Highbury, or on Levin’s estate, or in Wodehouse-land, just because those worlds are so comfortingly long familiar. Memo to self, though: it really is time I re-read all of Anna Karenina  once more.

I got a 15″ M2 MacBook Air a bit over a year ago, and it is terrific — perfect in its intended role as a stay-at-home but move-from-room-to-room, laptop/table-top. The additional screen real-estate over the 13″ is very definitely worth having e.g. for LaTeX. In fact, I’ve found myself using my iMac less and less. And then, when I have used the iMac for multi-window work — e.g. most recently, when indexing Introducing Category Theory — I’ve found the iMac a bit frustrating, wishing the screen were that bit bigger again. So, I promised myself a somewhat indulgent treat if I got through the operation ok, namely to trade in the iMac for an Apple Studio Display. Which has arrived. And as you can see, looks just fantastic. I played a bit this afternoon with e.g. LaTeX windows open and a PDF of another book on screen, and it works brilliantly.

Oviously, then, my productivity is going to zoom up. Ahem.

OK, ok: but it is — at any rate — a lovely bit of kit which will be a delight to work with.

To work with, that is to say, when I can marshal again enough grey cells to march in step at the same time! I’m getting there, but as David Auerbach put it, recovery from major surgery is typically neither linear nor monotonic. But the trend line is encouraging enough. So onwards. Meanwhile, let me share a link that David sent me: Bach’s great Chaconne as you have never heard it before:

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