describe the flow of heat, or the bending of light in glass have been variously described by physicists at one time or another. Some of these descriptions have led to an ever-expanding linking of patterns, more transparently than have others; they are thereby considered more valid than those which do not lead the way to new insights. It is in this sense that the Copernican pattern for planetary motion is more valid than the Ptolemaic. Both versions describe the motions accurately; both are reproducible and communicable, but Newton would scarcely have been able to produce a theory of gravitation had he been stuck with Ptolemaic epicycles rather than Keplerian ellipses. The distrust which physicists express for the occult stems from the fact that each described occult pattern stands by itself as an isolated kind of event, defying any possible integration of conjoining with other patterns to form a recognizable pattern of patterns. Scientists not only concentrate on perceiving patterns, but they continually transform and reformulate them, or redetermine what aspects of a pattern they consider "signal" as opposed to "noise." Eventually some particular formulation becomes recognizable at the higher level of pattern recognition, and the creative work, once again, begins to move on. In physics, these patterns of patterns are selected as valid by using both aesthetic and correspondence criteria. Theories that are structurally simpler and that at the same time include more elements of the primary pattern are chosen. They appear more elegant. Maxwell, for example, created a truly elegant pattern of patterns which included virtually everything that had been observed about electricity and magnetism But a theory such as Maxwell's may have blank spaces, as though it were an assembled jigsaw puzzle in which everything fit, but in which there were still some holes. Holes could mean that the puzzle was incorrectly assembled. But more commonly, the holes represent missing pieces; they suggest that if one looks in the box or in the trash basket or under the table, one will find the missing pieces. One keeps looking and looking, and if one finds the missing pieces, one is convinced that the puzzle was assembled correctly. It is validated. However, if, as quite frequently happens, the search enables one to find too many pieces, one is forced to assemble the puzzle over again. The theories of physicists are obviously not framed by neat, rectilinear borders as are the puzzles bought in a store. Physical theories usually have boundaries with the jagged jigsaw shapes exposed, and which occasionally enable one to join two independently assembled puzzles. Actually, the imagery of a jigsaw puzzle is misleading. In the composite pattern of patterns of a physical theory, the pattern of individual pieces is not apparent. The composite is not necessarily representational. One has only an idea and a few equations which are less like a jigsaw puzzle than like a group of chromosomes containing all the information in some coded form which, through appropriate transformations, can represent each of the patterns incorporated into the theory. Newton's expression for gravitation, Maxwell's set of five equations, Dirac's quantum mechanics, or even the familiar E = mc2, constitute such coded patterns of patterns. One considers them valid because they represent so much of what has been observed and because they keep leading us to new parts of reality. The primary-level patterns that artists perceive do not necessarily stem from a different source than those that intrigue physicists. They involve shape, sound, light, motion, and an ever-increasing range of natural phenomena; but the process of formulation, representation and abstraction of these patterns by the artist differs from that by the physicist. The physicist represents patterns in a way that will facilitate his particular way of synthesizing patterns of patterns, often relying on mathematics, which is a step by step procedure to discover whatever elements fit together. Great works of art also constitute a synthesis of experiential patterns and involve a process of selection. Some things fit together, and

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