ABSTRACT
I am impressed by Paul Ornstein's analysis of my work, in particular by his having been able to demonstrate that the unfolding of my contributions during my scientific life occurred in accordance with a predetermined, consistent, logical plan. It all sounds very convincing to me when I look at it from the outside. But I must admit that I knew nothing about any program laid down within me. All I knew when I wrote a paper during my earlier years was that I was writing this or that particular paper. In no case did I know that any specific work belonged in any larger pattern or program, that it was logically connected with other works. Only about ten years ago did I begin to have a sense of where I might be going. But, as I said, that was not the case in my earlier life. Some of my writings, for example, were purely accidental. I was asked to undertake a particular job, and I agreed to do it. Still, I can recognize in retrospect that, even when I was merely responding to external promptings, such as, for example, the preparation of the discussion of somebody's paper at the request of a program committee, I often managed to insert something into these productions that I wanted to express but that I was not yet ready to put forward in the form of a clear-cut, definitive, separate contribution.
