But hands are indeed a complicated organism, a delta where much distant life flows together to pour into the great stream of action. A look into the evolutionary history of humanity teaches us that the biological development of a grasping hand, along with the coupled development of hand and brain, forms the very basis of our culture—whether it concerns the development of numbers, musical virtuosity, craftsmanship, or philosophy. Nowhere is the inseparable connection between body and mind more visible. Biology, medicine, and culture extend their hands to each other in this bridging book, and through the tangible knowledge it imparts, the fascination for the "tool of the mind" only grows stronger.