The Metaphysics of David Birnbaum

David Birnbaum, a Hollywood jeweler and self-styled metaphysician, has somehow convinced Bard College to host a conference dedicated to his theories. Birnbaum claims to have seamlessly reconciled religion and science in his (self-published) magnum opus, the Summa Metaphysica. He mailed copies of the Summa to 2,000 philosophers. (I received a copy, but only read a few paragraphs before giving up.) 

Garry Hagberg is a professor of philosophy at Bard College whom Birnbaum falsely claimed served as an editor to the Summa. Here is Hagberg's summary of the Summa: “His work so far as I can see does not (this is description, not criticism) intersect at any point with what the discipline of philosophy considers to be within the field of historical or contemporary metaphysics.” 

A bizarre tale, worth reading.