BOOK REVIEW Alexander Luria and the Cultural–Historical Activity Theory: Pieces for the History of An Outstanding Collaborative Project in Psychology

This book’s appearance is extremely timely—it coincides with the 2002 centennial of Alexander Luria’s birth. The life and scientific heritage of this Russian scholar have been widely celebrated, with several international conferences held to commemorate Luria’s achievements, including one in Moscow organized by his many students and followers, now renowned scholars themselves, working in various institutions in Moscow and around the world. The book that is now available for the English-speaking readers in translation from Russian (the original was published in 1992), is written by Evgenija Davydovna Homskaya—one of the closest students and colleagues of Luria who came to be a prominent neuropsychologist herself, having authored a number of important publications (both with Luria and on her own) and taught many generations of students at the Moscow State Lomonosov University (including the author of this review). Homskaya, who continues her work and teaching today, wrote this book, in her own words, to honor the memory of her beloved teacher, colleague, and friend. The book by Homskaya represents a valuable source of information about this prominent scholar of the 20th century and a unique addition to the existing literature in that it provides a glimpse at Luria’s life and work from within the immediate context of his investigative project and scientific path as it unfolded during the many years of a close collaboration between Luria and Homskaya. The book should be of interest to a broad audience of psychologists for several reasons. First, Alexander Luria’s life is remarkable in and of itself. He represented a rare breed of scientists with a uniquely broad, almost encyclopedic, knowledge and expertise in fields as diverse as biology, psychiatry, anthropology, medicine, physiology, neurophysiology, psychology, forensic science, MIND, CULTURE, AND ACTIVITY, 10(1), 93–97 Copyright © 2003, Regents of the University of California on behalf of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition