Alexander Golovin (1939–2013)
On Wednesday, December 4, 2013 our friend and colleague Alexander Golovin, professor of mechanical engineering at Bauman Moscow State Technical University within the Bauman School on TMM, passed away in his home in Moscow. Alexander was born on March 3, 1939. He graduated as amechanical engineer at the Bauman School in 1962. He became an assistant professor there in 1968 and an associate professor in 1977. After having obtained his Ph. D in 1993 he became a full professor. He had a great passion for mountain climbing asmaster of this sport since his youth and he climbed successfully severalmountains. In 1988hewas, for example, a member of a group of five mountaineers that reached the top of Peak “7495”, the highest peak of the former Soviet Union and also the highest point of Tajikistan. Alexander published several books and many papers in scientific journals on design, kinematics, dynamics, and history of mechanisms. Several inventions and machine designs carry his name. Since the end of the 1990s Alexander enthusiastically participated in the activities of IFToMM (International Federation for the Promotion ofMechanism andMachine Science). Hewas particularly active in IFToMMPermanent Commission for History of MMS as amember from 1999 to 2007, when he left the seat to a younger colleague, but keeping interest and contacts with the commission. In 2005 he organized a very successful workshop on the History of Mechanism and Machine Science (HMMS) in Moscow and he contributed to all symposia on HMMS. With Valentin Tarabarin he published in 2007 a book in the Springer series on HMMS on the impressive collection of models ofmechanisms that the Bauman School possesses.With his help we discovered several aspects of the rich Russian history onmechanical engineering, he transmitted us the enthusiasm onmodels of mechanisms and also in discovering hidden parts of history of mechanisms. Hewas one of themost active members of the Permanent Commission for History of MMS by participating directly and bringing his students and collaborators at all the initiatives of the commission: events, meetings, and