Before M-theory, it appeared that grand unification including gravity was not going to happen. Theorists could cheat a little and carefully mold a given Calabi-Yau shape, but this made them uneasy since they do not even know which Calabi-Yau shape represents the way the extra dimensions are curled up in our universe. Then, using methods from the second superstring revolution, Edward Witten began inquiring into how the strengths of the forces vary with larger coupling constants. He found that, with some gentle prodding, gravity's strength could meet the strength of the other forces without touching Calabi-Yau space. It is too early to be sure, but this indicates that with M-theory, grand unification may be far easier than expected.