In the early years of the schools of mines, teaching of mining and metallurgy, and sometimes geology and mineralogy were taught by the same professor. 在矿业学校的早期阶段,同样的老师讲授采矿和冶金学科,有时还要讲地质学和矿物学。
In the book Meng Xi Bi Tan (Dream Pool Essays) (1088) he wrote about mineralogy, erosion, sedimentation and uplift, mathematics, astronomy, and meteorology. 在《梦溪笔谈》(1088)中,沈括谈到了矿物学、腐蚀、沉淀与提取、数学、天文学、气象学。