The future in your palm: science and The Secrets of the Hand
For thousands of years, people believed their future could be read in the lines etched into the palm of their hands. The ancient art of palmistry, originating in India, claimed a close examination of the hand could not only reveal what kind of person you were, but also other information such as when you might die. Like many other cosmological beliefs, it’s tempting to ask whether there might not be a kernel of truth to palmistry; that somehow the ancients intuited the workings of nature revealed today by the natural sciences. This is certainly a temptation SBS documentary The Secrets of the Hand (part of its four-week Tales of the Unexpected season) has succumbed to. In a series of experiments, the program tests the notion that the hand might “speak to us” about our personalities, illnesses and even longevity. Charles Bell and the hand of God Since the 18th century movement in Europe known as the Enlightenment, the hand has been incredibly important for scientists. Take, for example,