V. S. Kirsanov

One of the central problems in the creative activity of B. G. Kuznetsov was that of immortality. Kuznetsov’s interest in contempor^ physics — in the theory of relativity and in quantum theorycan be explained first and foremost through his belief that science could clari fy aspects of this problem, provide means of looking at it in a new way, and pro vide new instruments for some kind of solution. Kuznetsov thought that intuitive ly it w^ possible to suppose an identity between a present moment of time and a preceding moment. The connection of the past with the present was real and con crete; it can be seen, for example, in the works of our distinguished contempor^ies. This connection provides for the possibility and reliability of dialogs with the past, and the reliability of Kuznetsov’s “time machine.” It is a question not simply of intellectual performance, but of “real-life connection” with the past. The reader himself is left to determine the accuracy of the proposed presentation — one can suffer without end from the question of whether it is possible to understand the word “reliable” as a synonym of “real,” or to take the expression “real-life con nection literally, and not just as a metaphor. But then, the intentions of the author himself are obvious. In this year Kuznetsov would have turned 100. The present essay is dedicated to his memory.