The subject of this book is time. The three global problems of natural science - those of the origin of the universe, life and consciousness - cannot be solved without finding out the nature of time. Without a good construction of time it is impossible to describe, to qualify, to forecast and to control various processes in the animate and inanimate nature. Special attention is paid to the ways of adequate inclusion of the properties of time in the derivation of the fundamental equations of motion for natural systems.

Time is considered as an independent entity which cannot be reduced to the concept of matter, space or field. The point of discussion is the “time flow” conception of N A Kozyrev (1908-1983), an outstanding Russian astronomer and natural scientist. In addition to a review of the experimental studies of “the active properties of time”, by both Kozyrev and modern scientists, the reader will find different interpretations of Kozyrev's views and some developments of his ideas in the fields of geophysics, astrophysics, general relativity and theoretical mechanics.