In the last third of the last century, important progress was made in developing the scientific basis for oxidized asphalt production technology. The classification of crude oils and mathematical model developed allow quantitatively predicting the basic parameters of asphalt production based on vacuum distillation and oxidation process using the reference properties of the crude oil. Key words: oxidized asphalt, prediction, classification of crude oils, mathematical model.The evolution of technology for production of any product usually passes through the stage of engineering art where decision-making is based on separate facts and is heuristic in character. Gradual accumulation of knowledge leads to generalizations that allow making decisions based on rigorous calculations. This collected knowledge, which allows quantitatively predicting the basic parameters of product production technology, can be called science.The results of development of domestic asphalt production technology, more precisely, its material implementation, over the last third of the 20 th century were generalized previously in [1]. The reasons for selecting this period of time were discussed there. The present article concerns the development of scientific views in asphalt technology in the same time period. We first analyzed the reviews in monographs published in the mainstream press and articles in the journals Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel [Chemistry and Technology of Fuels and Oils] and Neftepererabotka i Neftekhimiya [Oil Refining and Petrochemistry] , since the most important events and facts would be reflected on the pages of these publications. We focused most attention on the developments that markedly influenced the development of the prognostic basis of the technology and thus confirmed the right to call it scientific. Many publications that do not consider approaches to the quantitative prediction of some parameters of a technology are not discussed based on the same criterion. Perhaps enough time has not yet passed for a reliable evaluation of such publications.The area of application of asphalts is primarily determined by their consistency. Determination of the degree of softness of asphalts is based on methods of testing that determine arbitrary characteristics; ductility, i.e., the capacity to be drawn into a thread; softening point; penetration, i.e., the depth of needle penetration in asphalt [2, 3].Such tests, although conducted by methods generally accepted in world practice, do not essentially differ from the methods of assessing quality used at the dawn of asphalt production -for example, by pressing with a fingernail.