Михаил Тихонович Емцев

Russian scientist and writer whose most significant work was accomplished in collaboration with Eremei Parnov, also a trained scientist. They began their career with Hard-SF stories in 1961, publishing titles like Uravneniie s Blednogo Neptuna (coll 1964; title story trans Helen Saltz Jacobson as "The Pale Neptune Equation" in New Soviet Sf, anth 1979; "Dusha Mira" trans Antonina W Bouis as World Soul 1978); the latter tale combines Frankensteinian horrors with detailed (though doctrinally horrified) speculation on the collective consciousness (see Hive Minds, Telepathy). Other titles include Padeniie Sverkhnovoi ["The Fall of the Supernova"] (1964), Zelenaia Krevetka ["The Green Shrimp"] (1965), Tri Kvarka ["Three Quarks"] (1969). "'Vozvratite Liubov'!" (1966; trans Arthur Shkarovsky as "Bring Back Love" in Everything but Love anth 1973) was a remarkable first (and accurate) prediction of the neutron bomb. In More Diraka ["The Dirac Sea"] (1967) the scientist's moral responsibility is discussed. Their most sophisticated novel, Klotchia T'my Na Igle Vremeni ["Turfs of Darkness on the Needle of Time"] (1970), is a Time-Travel fantasy with, as protagonist, a historian engaged in the study of all "reincarnations" of fascism through the ages. Emtsev and Parnov discontinued their partnership in 1970.