Yeah, my imagined likely scenario involves that too. Maybe stuff at Bell Labs was really picking up and he's trying to finish the thesis, but it still has a few

Yeah, my imagined likely scenario involves that too. Maybe stuff at Bell Labs was really picking up and he's trying to finish the thesis, but it still has a few minor typos. He can't abide knowing about these and turning it in, but even with his formidable diligence, he can't stomach reprinting the whole damn thing and thoroughly reviewing it for the 27th time. I completed a very interesting postdoc to start a new job, and even then, it took me a couple years to tie up loose ends and give them the finished deliverables I felt I owed them.