Tools: Extending Our Reach

Accompanying the 2014 Cooper Hewitt reopening, Tools explores human ingenuity through the design and history of everyday and extraordinary tools. Spanning ten Smithsonian museums, the book pairs lush images with essays on technology, culture, and design, showing how tools—from ancient hand axes to modern innovations—reflect creativity, problem-solving, and the interconnectedness of science, art, and design across time and cultures.