In 1912, a fossil known as the piltdown man was found in Piltdown, England by an amateur archeologist named Charles Dawson. Dawson found this fossil after three years of digging in the Piltdown gravel pit. He then announced the discover of two skulls that appear to be part of a primitive hominid and ancestor of a man. This discovery helped Arthur Kieths' theory that the human brain increased in size before walking up right. In 1953 a team of researchers at the British Museum- Kenneth Oakley, Wilfred Le Gros Clark, and Joseph Weiner- put the skull and jaw through many scientific tests. They were shocked to find out the skull was a fake.
There is a want and need for success by all humans, and I believe the one at fault let the want for success to take over. This hoax was a wrong doing that did negatively effect the science community and some scientific theories. The find supported scientific ideas and led scientist in certain directions that were not entirely correct. In 1949, the hoax was discovered when scientist, Kenneth Oakley, used a fluorine test to date the fossils. The fossils were found to be a lot more recent than previously thought by several hundred thousand years. Later (1953) an investigation led to the discovery of the fabrication. The skull fragments were found to be stained in an effort to make the specimen appear older and the jaw was found to belong to an orangutan, while the teeth were that of a chimpanzee’s. After being examined under a microscope, they saw the teeth were filed down, in which was an obvious attempt at deceit.
I believe removing the "human" factor from science is not necessary. Everything in life has human mistakes and science should as well. Science wouldn't be what it is today without the creativity and ideas of humans. This hoax teaches us not to always take things at face value. You can't always believe certain sources, considering they could be false no matter how real or true it sounds. With many hoaxes like this, we continue to learn lessons about our own ideas and opinions.
"Dawson found this fossil after three years of digging in the Piltdown gravel pit."
ReplyDeleteWell, actually a worker found it and brought it to Dawson, correct? Dawson continued to explore the area for several years, but it didn't take that long to discover the initial pieces. Keep these posts as factual as possible.
Great job raising the significance of this find as supporting Keith's pet theory of larger brains evolving early in human evolutionary history. Well done. Why was this find so significant to British scientists in particular?
I agree that the drive to succeed is very strong and may have been a factor here, along with other such as pride and ambition and perhaps greed. Lots to consider, but that only addresses the faults involved in the creation of this hoax. What faults were involved in how quickly the find was accepted by the scientific community, particularly by British scientists? The hoax would have been discovered much earlier if they had shown the skepticism that is required by the scientific process. They are at fault here as well.
Good explanation of the technology that uncovered the hoax, but what about the process of science itself helped to reveal it? Why were scientists still analyzing this find so many years later? What does that say about how science works to weed out false information?
"Science wouldn't be what it is today without the creativity and ideas of humans."
Agreed. We would lose the good parts humans as well as the bad if we eliminated the human factor from science.
Good conclusion.
Great blog post! I like what you had to say about the "human factor." I like how hoaxes are wrong, but they can help us to discover who we are and what we want to believe in. I think that this hoax was done because of national pride. Dawson or someone wanted the first "human" to come from England. This might have been a little arrogant, but it is not out of the realm of possibility.
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