Not so long ago many scientists, and Stephen Hawking central among them, claimed the theory of everything was just round the corner. But as we go from classical mechanics to quantum mechanics to string theory and loop quantum gravity - everything seems to be getting more and more complicated. Far from being round the corner it now looks less and less likely. In 2010 Hawking changed his mind and abandoned the theory altogether in favour of a different account of science altogether, model theoretic realism.
Was Hawking right, does the end of the theory of everything point to a bigger shift in our understanding of what science itself can achieve? Is science not capable of ultimately describing reality at all, let alone being complete? Or is there a possible model that could be so effective that it could be deemed to be true?