Рассматриваются разные аспекты 60-летней истории изучения природы и полезных ископаемых Западной Сибири, которые связаны с пионерными научными исследованиями природы края Р.С. Ильина - друга акад. В.И. Вернадского, сосланного в Нарым. За десять лет, прожитых в Томске, он создал новую науку геоморфологию, основанную на разработанном эпигено-логическом принципе, и доказал альтернативную общепринятым представлениям профессуры перспективность нефтегазо-носности Западно-Сибирской низменности, особенно исследованной им части водосбора среднего течения р. Оби.

Rostislav Sergeevich Ilyin (1891-1937) is an outstanding scientist and researcher of Siberia. The last 10 years of his life he worked in Tomsk State University. He invented a new science, geomorphology, based on the epigenological principle of nature. With this principle he proved the prospects of the petroleum potential of the West Siberian lowland, alternative to the general notion. R.S. Ilyin is a monumental figure in the history of not only soil science, but also the entire cycle of Earth Sciences. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the University of Moscow. He attended the lectures of V.I. Vernadsky, A.P. Pavlov, soil scientist A.N. Sabanin, zoologist M.A. Menzbier, geographer P.A. Anuchina. What is he: a soil scientist, a geologist, a hydrogeologist, a geomorphologist, a geographer or a paleogeographer? He studied all these sciences deeply and professionally, striving with many particulars and details to discover the essence of his scientific method. R.S. Ilyin belongs to a rare group of scientists - enthusiasts of the twentieth century, the founders of the new Earth Sciences that allow to open new horizons of natural resources and to know the ecological functions of the biosphere and the geological environment. Among them are V.I. Vernadsky, M.A. Usov, I.K. Bazhenov, Yu.A. Bilibin, V.A. Obruchev, M.I. Kuchin, etc. However, he soon became imbued with the ideas of social justice and joined the party of socialist-revolutionaries, for which he paid. Twice he was arrested by the police, five by the bodies of OGPU and NKVD. In 1927, he was exiled to the Narym territory. Exploring topography, geology, landscapes and soils in the harsh conditions of the Vasyugan land, in 1927 he created a unique geomorphological map of the territory of the Narym land. In 1936, Vestnik Zapadno-Sibirskogo geologicheskogo upravleniya [Bulletin of the West Siberian Geological Administration] published an article by Ilyin. This article was his last word on Siberian oil and two decades ahead of life. The conclusion of the article is an example of outstanding scientific prediction: "the map of oil fields of Eurasia must be restructured, it is only the matter of time". But the following year came another arrest, charge with counter-revolutionary work among the scientific staff, with the preparation of terrorist acts. On August 25, 1937, the NKVD troika sentenced "Ilyin Rostislav Sergeevich to shooting for his participation in the Japanese-SR sabotage and espionage terrorist organization". Only on May 15, 1956, the military court reviewed Ilyin's case and canceled the Troika's ruling. It was already the time the scientist's ideas were implemented. Two years before the first oil flows from Kolpashevo well R-2, and four years later Ust-Balyk and Megion oil fields opened. They dramatically changed the attitude to Western Siberia; and its transformation into a major oil-chemical and fuel base of the country began. The basic theory of R.S. Ilyin, who demonstrated the role of geological cycles through the integration of sciences, remains relevant and finds development in the science of biosphere natural history. Tomsk State University and Tomsk State University of Architecture and Building have developed new courses that describe the interrelation of the biotic and inert (bone) matter from the position of the geological history of the Earth. Two more ecological functions of the geological environment are proposed to the existing ones. They allow to improve the theory of mineral resources, their rational use and addressing strategic risks.