His calculation of the thermal balance of Venus disputed the popular theory that the clouds of Venus consisted of dust. Kozyrev argued that energy absorbed in the upper atmosphere created high altitude storms, but the surface of Venus would be still and dimly lit. This work influenced the theory of Venus and Nobel Laureate Harold Urey devoted a paper to the analysis and implications of it. Kozyrev wrongly believed that the white poles of Mars were caused by cloud formations in the atmosphere, not ice on the surface. Due to his experiments and publications (Causal Mechanics/Theory of Time) he became a controversial figure in Russian scientific community. In the 1930s, Kozyrev was considered the most promising new astrophysicist in Russia, but his arrest and long imprisonment destroyed his career during what is usually the most creative period of a scientist's life. Isolated from all news and publications, he pondered the source of internal heat in stars and planets, but was unaware of the discoveries being made in quantum mechanics and atomic energy. After his release, he struggled to recover his place in science, but his own theories were out of step with the current physics by that time. The dispute over Kozyrev's causal-mechanics theory spilled into "Pravda" in 1959, with criticism by some of the Soviet Union's leading physicists, including Igor Tamm. In January 1960, the Soviet Academy of Sciences and Bureau of Physico-Mathematical Sciences appointed a commission to resolve the dispute. The nine men were assigned to investigate the theory, experimental evidence, and the special issue of planetary asymmetry which Kozyrev claimed was evidence of a gyro-gravitational "latitude effect". Their findings were:   In September 1969, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA, Paris, France) awarded N. Kozyrev a nominal gold medal "For remarkable telescopic and spectral observations of luminescent phenomena on the Moon, showing that the Moon remains a still active body, and stimulating development of the methods of luminescent researches world wide." In December 1969, the State Committee for Affairs of Discovery and Inventions at the Ministerial Council of the USSR, awarded N. Kozyrev a diploma "For the discovery of tectonic activity of the Moon." "The following astronomical features are named for him:"   A Kozyrev mirror is a device made from aluminum (sometimes from glass, or reflecting mirror-like material) spiral shape surfaces, which, introduced by allegedly based on Kozyrev's theories, are able to focus different types of radiation alike to magnifying glasses, including the types of radiation coming from biological objects.