History of Science and Engineering Annotation << Back The Evolution of Ideas About the Structure and Composition of the Earth Korolev N.M. The paper is concerned with the changing views of humanity on the structure and composition of the Earth, from the earliest times to the most modern theories and concepts. Main attention is paid history of the development of scientific hypotheses about the Earth’s interior structure and composition, and their experimental verification up to the 50 years of XX century. Consideration of sequential formation of complex knowledge about the internal structure of our planet is essential to understanding the latest researches of the Earth's mantle and core, and to understanding the place and role of these researches in the geosciences. The due regards are given to modern trends and directions of Earth's internal structure research. The whole range of methods used today for studying the Earth's mantle and core described in this article. Keywords: Earth; kernel; mantle; evolution. Contacts: E-mail: nm.korolev@yandex.ru Pp. 51-64.