Yes, there have been various attempts to unify general relativity, which describes gravity on a large scale, with quantum theory, which describes the behavior of particles on a small scale. The quest for such a unifying theory is often referred to as "quantum gravity."
One of the most well-known and extensively studied approaches to quantum gravity is called "string theory" or "superstring theory." String theory proposes that the fundamental building blocks of the universe are not point-like particles but tiny, vibrating strings. It attempts to reconcile gravity with quantum mechanics by treating particles as different vibrational modes of these strings. String theory naturally incorporates gravity and provides a framework for understanding the behavior of matter and the other fundamental forces in a consistent way.
String theory emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s through the work of multiple physicists. Although it is difficult to attribute its development to a single individual, some key contributors include Gabriele Veneziano, Leonard Susskind, Holger Bech Nielsen, and Yoichiro Nambu. Over the years, string theory has evolved and gained significant attention, leading to various advancements and insights.
It's important to note that string theory is just one of the approaches to quantum gravity, and there are other competing ideas, such as loop quantum gravity, causal dynamical triangulation, and others. Each of these approaches presents its own perspective on how to reconcile general relativity and quantum theory, and the search for a complete and experimentally verified theory of quantum gravity is still an active area of research.