Aping Darwin

From Mike Martin Further to David Robson’s article (1 March, p 34) about making stone tools and the journey  from ape to thinking human,  I’m reminded of an article by Friedrich Engels, “The part played by labour in the transition from ape to man”. Written in 1876, it suggests that by working with their hands and interacting with one another, apes evolved greater intelligence and ultimately language. Engels wrote it after reading the works of Darwin. It’s interesting to see how these ideas have older predecessors. London, UK From Michael Paine Your cover story on the role of stone tools in our evolution was very interesting, and brings to mind a quote from Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “We’ll be saying a big hello to all intelligent life forms everywhere. And to everyone else out there, the secret is to bang the rocks together.” Sydney, Australia