Khlebnikov and Science: Time, Space and the Fourth Dimension

Khlebnikov grew up in an environment in which natural sciences possessed a particular importance. His father was an ornithologist. Lobachevsky’s non-Eucledian geometry became almost an obsession for him from an early age. He was aware of the debate on the fourth dimension and on Einstein’s Тheory of Relativity. His research into the laws of time foreshadowed Kondratiev’s theories on economic cycles and Chizhevskii’s observation of the cycles of solar activity and their direct impact on the biosphere and the behaviour of humankind. Science acquired an aesthetic and a visionary significance in his works. This paper examines Khlebnikov’s conceptions in relation to the developments of science at the time