The first fifty years of the Mechanism and Machine Theory: Standing back and looking forward

The main purpose of this work is to present an overview of the first five decades of the Mechanism and Machine Theory. First, the genesis of the journal is revisited, where the impressive way to the creation of Mechanism and Machine Theory is highlighted. In this regard, the remarkable work done by Professor Erskine Crossley has been emphasized. Furthermore, some of the major mentors and responsible for the tremendous success of the journal, since its first issue, are underlined here. Subsequently, a brief history of the journal in terms of the published papers, the regions of origin of the publications, as well as the number of authors and citations of the papers is presented and analyzed. Finally, the past, present and future of the mechanism and machine science are discussed in terms of research trends.