CAO Jin is a Research Assistant of the Department of Sinology, Universitaet Tuebingen (Germany). She is interested in the interaction among the development of thoughts, knowledge and science, the state power and the social economy. One of the research works she has been engaged in is the translation, spread and influence of De re metallica, which was translated into Chinese by the German cleric Johann Adam during the late Ming Dynasty (The program is directed by Professor Hans Fränkel).