HOW FAR MANKIND HAS COME; THREE CONTEMPORARY WRITERS LOOK AT HUMAN, SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT.

Byline: Scott Holleran Special to the Daily News

Throughout Frank Wilson's ``The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language and Human Culture,'' you get the sense that the author is on the verge of providing a clear, impenetrable link between the hand and the mind.

While Wilson's otherwise absorbing account of the hand doesn't deliver on that promise, his heroic tales of self-educated men who use their hands make for an engaging book. The anecdotes serve as an unlikely connection to Wilson's assertions that the hand is crucial to evolution and that man's use of the hand demonstrates that he is goal-oriented, self-directed and autonomous.

Wilson's views support the philosophy that each living organism is biologically inclined to act and adapt to its surroundings in self-preservation. Using musicians, jugglers, puppeteers and surgeons, Wilson argues that the early use of their hands played a pivotal role in their career choice. The anecdotes celebrate achievement.

Neurologist and author Wilson (he wrote ``Tone Deaf and All Thumbs?'') applies Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, with generous and detailed references to scientists, psychobiologists and anthropologists. He speculates on wider implications of various theories and introduces a series of floating abstractions. While many theorists' views are interesting - and some are fascinating - Wilson's thesis lacks integration.

``The Hand'' is best when Wilson celebrates the hand as a distinctive tool for creative and intelligent uses. Wilson's writing is compelling enough, but, as he steps outside the role of inquisitive neurologist, his ideas fail to take root. However, Wilson's passion for his subject is infectious. After reading the chapter ``The Arm We Brought Down,'' readers may never again take their hands for granted. Wilson is a capable and enthusiastic instructor in evolutionary theory: ``The ... arm, mounted on a new pelvis, aided by a highly advanced visual system and bipedality, and stimulated by the reality of having no real alternative to living on the savannah, meant that ballistics would become the inaugural centerpiece of a new hominid survival strategy. Having the ability to hold a good sized rock in the hand, take aim, wind up, and let fly with speed and accuracy meant that there was no need to run down small animals or live on the scraps of food left by other predators.''

Though Wilson excludes important issues such as the handshake and the role of the hand in human sexuality, there is plenty of interest throughout ``The Hand,'' including a hypothesis that the dominance of right-handedness comes from early women hunters, who held their babies closest to their hearts - on the left - as they hunted with their right hands. ``The Hand'' never comes close to living up to its subtitle's promise, but, in the process, Wilson has explained the history of the hand in thought-provoking detail.

Wonders of science

Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene, captures the poetry of science and expresses the virtues of a rational view of existence in his latest book, ``Unweaving the Rainbow.''

Dawkins' conclusions imply that there are absolutes and, therefore, the mysteries of reality are fully within our grasp. He also asserts that an exalted emotional response is the result of a proper application of reason to science. In other words, the clearer one thinks, the better one feels.

Dawkins refuses to concede matters of the soul to such figures as Joseph Campbell and Marianne Williamson, attacking the notion that knowledge robs reality of its wonder. The Oxford University scientist writes: ``I believe that an orderly universe, one indifferent to human preoccupations, in which everything has an explanation even if we still have a long way to go before we find it, is a more beautiful, more wonderful place than a universe tricked out with capricious ad hoc magic.''

His crisp writing style, while at times too cute, embraces science with an exuberance that permits the reader to master facts, abstractions and equations. Chapters on DNA provide a basic genetics primer.

``Unweaving the Rainbow'' demystifies science and invites readers to marvel at the known - and those who discovered what's known - the way we seem to marvel at the unknown. Dawkins offers an engrossing account of modern science as an antidote against the fakery that surrounds us. Dawkins worships existence and convinces us that we should, too.

Not that he considers modern science all fun and games. After all, though the Hubble telescope provides us with important new data on the formation of galaxies and NASA is able to send a 77-year-old man into space, there is still no cure for cancer and AIDS. Science is serious, and, he points out, science matters.

``Real science can be hard,'' he writes, ``but, like classical literature or playing the violin, worth the struggle. If children are lured into science, or any other worthwhile occupation, by the promise of easy fun, what are they going to do when they finally have to confront reality?''

And he warns against oversimplified science exhibitions (i.e., where kids can eat the experiments) on the grounds that such trends prohibit the acquisition of knowledge.

Dawkins' ominous conclusion that science is being dumbed down is deeply disturbing. Be captivated by the wonder of the world, Dawkins tells us, and be aware that neither ghosts nor gurus will wipe the world's troubles away. That is a task that belongs to science, and science is increasingly under siege. Dawkins' wondrous ``Unweaving the Rainbow'' makes it seem less so.

Past, present and future

Physicist John Maddox attempts to establish goals for future scientists in his latest book, ``What Remains to be Discovered: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of Life, and the Future of the Human Race.'' Maddox, editor of Nature for nearly a quarter of the late 20th century, also wrote ``Revolution in Biology,'' ``The Doomsday Syndrome'' and ``Beyond the Energy Crisis.''

Despite the heavy title, Maddox does not claim to present the definitive agenda for scientists, which would be impossible. Instead, he provides a condensed history of modern science and he offers thought-provoking questions. Maddox begins with the nature of reality, following an insightful presentation of the great achievements - particularly those of the 19th-century scientists - in what he calls ``the river of discovery.'' Along the way, Maddox embraces the law of cause and effect and cautions against overstating the Big Bang theory.

Though ``What Remains to be Discovered'' is largely academic, filled with mathematical equations and complicated scientific problems, Maddox captures the splendor of science on many pages, linking theories, including those of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, with the present state of scientific inquiry. Readers may discover a deeper appreciation for the achievements of scientists.

Unfortunately, Maddox avoids any discourse on the foundation of science, epistemology, the study of man's means of acquiring knowledge. Without establishing the means by which the undiscovered facts of the universe will become known, he leaves unanswered the question of how we will know what we know.

``The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language and Human Culture''

by Frank Wilson

(396 pages, Pantheon; $30)

Our rating: Three Stars

``Unweaving the Rainbow''

by Richard Dawkins

(336 pages, Houghton Mifflin; $26)

Our rating: Three Stars

``What Remains to be Discovered: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of Life, and the Future of the Human Race''

by John Maddox

(384 pages, the Free Press; $25)

Our rating: Two and one-half Stars

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1) Wilson

(2) Dawkins