While the top minds in physics have been laboring for decades to develop a consistent theory that binds all of the fundamental forces together, the so-called Theory of Everything (or ToE) has eluded them. But Garrett Lisi, a surfer with a Ph.D. in theoretical physics, claims to have developed an exceptionally simple theory of everything that he described last week in a paper simply titled “An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything.” His theory involves some graphics that look like they came from an all-night Spirograph binge.

After he posted his work on arXiv, the physics preprint Web site, the paper drew some positive but qualified reviews from Backreaction, which interviewed Lisi back in August. The Reference Frame, however, called it “a huge joke.” The Telegraph has a story on it today.

(Images courtesy of Backreaction.)