Of all the systems of thought aimed at understanding the world, what we call the scientific method stands out as the most successful. Not only has science led us to many new and unexpected discoveries about the world, it provides a powerful conceptual framework within which to organize our thinking about natural processes. Moreover, within the scientific community there is a remarkable degree of agreement about the way the world is.

In the chapters by Professors 't Hooft and Barrow we read that physics — the foundational science — may be approaching a point of culmination with a so-called Theory of Everything. We have been rightly cautioned against expecting too much from this endeavour; nevertheless, the very fact that such sweeping claims are even discussed itself attests to the power and scope of modern physical theory.

While remaining enthusiastic but sceptical about a Theory of Everything, I believe that the discussion of such a theory throws into sharp focus many of the basic assumptions that underlie the physicist's approach to the nature of reality.

In its most ambitious form, a Theory of Everything seeks to combine all physical laws and principles into a single, unified mathematical scheme, hopefully captured by a single, simple formula that you might be able to wear on your T-shirt.