Graham, Loren R.
June 29, 1933—
Place of Birth: Hymera, IN
Place of Principal Residence: Summer: Munising, MI Winter: Cambridge, MA
Biography:
Loren Graham was born to Hazel and Ross Graham in Hymera, IN on June 29, 1933. He earned his BS at Purdue University in 1955 and his MS and PhD at Columbia in 1960 and 1964, respectively. In the past, Graham has taught at Indiana University, Columbia University, and Harvard University and is today a Professor of History of Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For most of his life, Graham has enthusiastically embraced the history of Russia, in particular the history of scientific thought in the Soviet Union. His research is the product of both intellectual and personal observation as Graham studied for two years at Moscow State University in USSR during the early 1960s and has since built a lengthy traveling record in the area. The fruit of his labor has taken on forms that both the scholarly and the layman audience can enjoy, ranging from a strongly academic style in Science in Russia and the Soviet Union: A Short History to his autobiographical Moscow Stories for general audiences. This work has not gone unrecognized; Graham has won many fellowships, awards, and honors, including being named a Guggenheim Fellow and winning the Sarton Medal from the History of Science Society. In addition, he is part of the American Philosophical Society, the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, and the Russian Academy of the Humanitarian Sciences. Graham and his wife, Patricia, spend their summers in Michigan and their winters in Massachusetts and have one daughter, Marguerite.
Selected Works:
- Science, Philosophy and Human Behavior in the Soviet Union (1987)
- Science and the Soviet Social Order (1990)
- Science in Russian and the Soviet Union: a Short History (1993)
- The Ghost of the Executed Engineer (1993)
- A Face in the Rock: The Tale of a Grand Island Chippewa (1998)
Awards:
- Finalist for National Book Award
- Follo Award of Michigan Historical Society
- Honorable Mention for the Annual Award for Excellence by the Association of American Publishers
- Stuart D. and Venice Gross Award for Excellence in Literature
- One of the “Notable Books of 1993” from the New York Times
- Danforth Fellow
- Guggenheim Fellow
- Sarton Medal from the History of Science Society
Critical Reception:
For Moscow Stories:
“Not only are the stories captivating but they are also well told: Graham’s that rare academic who knows how to write for a popular audience.”
Publishers Weekly
“...Graham writes ...as an ordinary American living through these years [1960-2005] alongside Russians…”
Moscow News
“Exciting, shocking, reflective, humane, strong-minded, compelling and touching…essential reading for anyone…involved in the affairs of modern Russia…”
History
For Science in Russia and the Soviet Union: A Short History:
“Loren Graham’s informative history…leaves one wondering how science could function at all….The remaining, very open, question is: How well will a newly freed Russian science survive the removal of the Soviet hand that nourished and battered it?”
New York Times Book Review
“...well written, frequently insightful, and firmly grounded in the scholarly literature….This new social history will surely add much to an already complex and dramatic tale.”
American Historical Review
For The Ghost of the Executed Engineer: Technology and the Fall of the Soviet Union:
“In this gem of a book, Loren R. Graham, our foremost authority on Soviet science and technology, draws the reader into the life story of Peter Palchinsky, a remarkable Soviet engineer who was executed in 1929 for treason…Like all memorable books, [this one] leaves the reader wrestling with large questions. The fate of Palchinsky was specific to Stalinist Russia, but the story Mr. Graham tells prompts us to reflect on the tenuous position of the state-supported social critic in all places, at all times.”
New York Times Book Review
“[A] provocative and engaging volume.”
New Republic
“This remarkable book by Loren R. Graham deals with one of the many independent minds crushed by the Soviet government.”
American Historical Review
“A terrific read, and a needed reminder of what happens when technology is loosed from social responsibility.”
Boston Globe
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
One of Graham’s books, A Face in the Rock: The Tale of a Grand Island Chippewa, is a heavily researched account on the Chippewa Indians of Grand Island, a location very near to Graham’s summer home in Munising, MI.