Don’t get the impression that I actually read more than a few pages

In the second place, the notes are there to convince the reader that I didn’t make things up. But please don’t get the impression that I actually read more than a few pages of most of the references quoted.

The notes are also a convenient hiding place for the author’s true opinions. But what do they matter?

Michael Harris, number theorist,
on why his book Mathematics Without Apologies has so many footnotes.

Mathematics Without Apologies by Michael Harris