Knowing how to collect the Earth’s mineral resources and transform them into useful tools has always served as a measure of man’s progress. What we now call natural resources and products were once being formed in the depths of the Earth and on its surface as the planet’s massive tectonic plates shifted. Fertile soils, gold-bearing veins and seas of oil formed in the Earth’s core. Stone has played in integral role in human civilisation since ancient times, helping people to understand the laws of the universe and the meaning of their own existence. According to the orders of Catherine the Second, the Saint Petersburg Mining Institute was founded in 1773, making it the first technical institution of higher education in Russia. It is here that geology and mining specialists receive their training. It is also the place people have often brought samples of rock, ore and minerals to be studied and eventually become part of the institute’s extensive museum collection. Join host Timofey Zudin to discover the world of secrets behind some of nature’s fascinating non-living beings.