Benardete, Seth, "On Plato's Timaeus and Timaeus' Science Fiction," Interpretation 2, no. 1, (Summer 1971), 21-65.

Excerpt:

(17a1-b4). Socrates counts out loud. He makes himself out to be somewhat ridiculous. He does not say, “There are three of you; there should be four.” Nor does he say, We are all here except so-and-so. Where is he Timaeus?” Socrates discovers the missing fourth by a counting, as though he knew that there should be four but did not know which one of them was missing.

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