"And I still maintain that we need a third arm and hand."

Well, for sci-fi fans. there is The_Mote_in_God's_Eye
..and its overwhelming sequel The Gripping Hand

Long, engrossing stories, but with amazing detail & imagination.

"Robert A. Heinlein, while giving the authors extensive advice on a draft manuscript, described it as "a very important novel, possibly the best contact-with-aliens story ever written".[3] Theodore Sturgeon, writing in Galaxy, described The Mote in God's Eye as "one of the most engrossing tales I have encountered in years"