The speaker, Leonard Shlain, has written a book about the subject called Art & Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time & Light. Shlain is a surgeon in San Francisco who got hooked on exploring modern art when he took his then 12-year-old daughter to a New York museum and couldn't answer her questions about what they were viewing.

Both physics and art anticipate a new way of seeing the world, but neither is easy to explain—perhaps can't be explained. Art is inscrutable; physics impenetrable. But both deal with light, space and time, and modern art can help with an understanding of new discoveries in physics.

Modern physics showed that there are huge spaces between atoms and within atoms, an astounding discovery. Cubism, evolving at much the same time, makes that concept easier to understand because it shows fragments of objects from multiple viewpoints.

The objects have been deconstructed and put back together in a new way, a composition that suggests movement within objects.

What would the world look like if I were traveling on a light beam, wondered Einstein as a youngster. And, continuing to ponder, came up with the theory of relativity. Relativity and cubism share a lot of characteristics—simultaneity, for one, with several things going on at once.

On the subject of light, contemporaries Matisse and Einstein are on the same wavelength, joining space and time. Artists can show motion and the passage of time on a single canvas, as in Duchamps' Nude Descending a Staircase. Here, past, present and future are all represented.

Time is also the essence of the Dali painting The Persistence of Memory, what with its sand, melting watches and ants. (Sand flows through an hourglass; ants are shaped like an hourglass.)

For the impressionists, color became the highest priority as they studied how light defines an object, constantly changing as the day progresses. Monet's multiple haystacks and cathedral studies at Rouen are examples. The Fauves broke the color barrier even further, with their blue horses and green lines bisecting a face.

At much the same time, scientists mapped how the eye sees color and finds each perceives color in a very different, very individual way. Shlain equates Magritte and Escher with quantum physics, changing everyday objects by adding energy.

SUPPORTING THE TROOPS: Area folks are organizing grass-roots movements to support the troops overseas. Saratoga's Church of Later Day Saints has a postcard-writing campaign under way. And locals Sue Smith and Joan Cox are mobilizing to send monthly packages.

In just a few days they gathered $300 from friends and neighbors and spent it on toiletries such as Visine, lip balm, sunglasses and sunblock. They used the listing on the West Point website as their guide: www.west-point.org/parent/wppc-st_louis/icarepackages.htm.

They will be mailing the packages to a contact in the Marines and one in the Army by April 10 and will enclose scanned photos of all the contributors. Their operation is called Adopted Moms and Dads. They request a $25 donation; Smith's number is 408.866.6172. Smith and Cox are in management training, and their company is called Effective Training Association.

FOR EMQ: The Butter Paddle recently presented a $129,000 check to EMQ Children & Family Services' chief executive officer, Jerry Doyle. That's the sum the 58 volunteers raised this past year selling upscale kitchenware and other products to benefit EMQ. Susan Brandenburg was 2002 president, and Cindy Fortino is store manager.

YOUNG WRITERS: Kaitlyn Langstaff was the speaker at the Young Writers of the Peninsula's March meeting. The Saratoga third-grader has met sickness with words. After a myriad of medical problems, including blindness, Kaitlyn dealt with this horrific blow by writing poetry.

Out of it came a CD, I Am the Same Inside. The writers' club is for youngsters 8­18 who are passionate about writing. Meetings are the second Sunday of the month at the Los Altos Library and include a speaker and writing games.

SHOW 'N TELL: If you're hankering to know how much that antique decorating your mantel or languishing in your attic may be, Assistance League of Los Gatos­Saratoga has just the event. It's their third annual Antique Show 'N Tell, to be held March 30, noon to 3 p.m., at the Saratoga Community Center.

Antique dealers offer the informal appraisals. The cost is $35 and $5 for additional appraisals. There will be food, auctions and theme baskets. For more information, call 408.356.3749.

Got a tip for Saratoga Sampler? Send email to maryanncook@earthlink.net.