Preface -- Chapter 1: Engineers and their stories -- Mechanics (Machines) in Ishaq Efendi, the Chief Instructor of Military School in the Ottomans, by Melek Dosay Gökdoğan -- Giuseppe Ceredi. A Hydraulic Engineer in 16th-Century Italy, by Luigi Traetta -- The Innovation process of the First Curved Mold Caster in China, by Lifang Lei et al. -- Shen Hong (1906-1998),A Legendary Engineer and China’s Modern Machinery Industry, by Lie Sun -- Jan Oderfeld (1908-2010). Retrospective Memories of the Past, by JanuszWawrzecki -- An Overview on the Studies of the History of Machinery in China, by Baichun Zhang Yexing Liu -- Chapter 2: History of machine design -- History of Human Powered Oil Expeller: A Literature Review, by Siraj Sheikh -- Literature Review on the Developments of Rice Milling Machines, by M. Sohail Pervez et al. -- Modeling an Antique Grinding Mill of Guanajuato Silver Mines, by Juan Jauregui et al. -- The Hydraulic Tilt Hammer in Ancient China, by Xiaolei Shi -- Reconstruction and Analysis of Zhan’s Sand Clock in the 14th Century, by Yu-Hsun Chen Hong-Sen Yan -- Exploration of Ancient Machinery: From Reconstruction Research to Exhibition and Science Education, by Jian-Liang Lin et al -- Relationships between paper mills and technological evolution of paper production, by Silvia Gargaro et al -- Light drawings: representation and design, by Emanuela Chiavoni -- Chapter 3: Ancient mechanisms -- Mechanisms in Heron’s automata as technological transfer and cultural means, by Roberto Bragastini -- Analysis and reconstruction of a platform with ball bearings in Roman ships of Nemi lake, by Pier Gabriele Molari et al. -- Application and Influence of Flap Valve Mechanism on Ancient Bellows, by Xing Huang, Lingfeng Li -- Mechanisms 26 and 30 of "the book of secrets" of Ibn Khalaf Al-Muradi, by Rafael López-García et al. -- The astrolabe: a mechanism for reading the stars, by Barbara Aterini -- Mathematical Instruments used in the Military Engineering Academies of Ottomans, by Irem Aslan Seyhan -- Chapter 4: History of modern technology -- Transfer of Modern High Draft Technology to China, by Xuan Su -- A Brief Introduction to the Steam Locomotives Made in China, by Zhizhong Zhang -- From the Unimate to the Delta robot: the early decades of Industrial Robotics, by AlessandroGasparetto -- Towards GIM, the Global Intelligent Machine, by Teun Koetsier -- Historical development of BHR humanoid robots, by Qiang Huang et al. -- Teaching Wonder (from 3rd century BCE to 21st century CE) , by Nadia Ambrosetti -- The scientific background of the Russian Revolution, by Agamenon Oliveira.

This is the proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on History of Machines and Mechanisms that was held in Beijing, China, in September 2018. The Symposium provided an international forum for presenting and discussing historical developments in the field of Machine and Mechanism Science (MMS). Special sections focused on the following topics: . modern reviews of past works · engineers in history, and their works · direct memories of the recent past · the development of theories · the history of the design of machines and mechanisms · development of automation and robots · the development of teaching of MMS · the schools and institutes of mechanical engineering · the heritage of machines and mechanisms.