2nd Edition . , complete. - Moscow: Moscow State University, 1996. - 80 s. The training manual describes methods for diagnosing primary soil minerals in grinding and immersion preparations from granulometric fractions . The manual is intended for passing a special course of students of the Faculty of Soil Science of Moscow State University, when writing it, the experience of many years of holding a special course . is taken into account. The manual includes information on the elements of crystal optics necessary for conscious work with a polarizing microscope and the establishment of the most important crystal-optic constants; in addition, it is supplemented by a detailed determinant for the most important primary minerals of soils .. In this regard, the manual can be used by soil scientists and agricultural specialists both in scientific and practical work, and for self-education purposes.