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Biomechanics of the Human Hand: From Stone Tools to Computer Keyboards

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The Evolution of the Primate Hand

Part of the book series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects ((DIPR))

Abstract

Evolution is a contextually driven process, meaning that the form of a feature in its present state is the synthesis of the ancestral form and function, the present function and biological role, and the ecology of the organism (Bock and von Wahlert 1965). Free of this context, features cease to convey their significance to the life of an organism, and their meaning is lost to those of us studying them. With this in mind, this chapter reviews the information we have gleaned from experimental biomechanics with respect to the evolutionary history of the modern human hand and how our relationship with technology may have impacted the form of the human hand and wrist.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Key and Dunmore (2015) report significantly greater forces acting on the nondominant thumb compared with the other digits tested on the nondominant hand. However, the reported forces are low relative to other tool-using and tool-making activities, including nutcracking (see Williams and Richmond 2012; Williams et al. 2012). Instead, reported forces are similar to those experienced during common, relatively low-force activities such as writing and playing the piano (Parlitz et al. 1998; Chau et al. 2006).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15232, USA

    Erin Marie Williams-Hatala

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  1. Erin Marie Williams-Hatala
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Correspondence to Erin Marie Williams-Hatala .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary An, Leipzig, Germany

    Tracy L. Kivell

  2. Division of Anatomy Department of Surgery Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Pierre Lemelin

  3. Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA

    Brian G. Richmond

  4. Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University , Durham, North Carolina, USA

    Daniel Schmitt

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Williams-Hatala, E.M. (2016). Biomechanics of the Human Hand: From Stone Tools to Computer Keyboards. In: Kivell, T., Lemelin, P., Richmond, B., Schmitt, D. (eds) The Evolution of the Primate Hand. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3646-5_11

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