Piltdown Hoax Blog Post

1. Begin by giving a brief synopsis of the Piltdown hoax, including when and where it was found, by whom, and varying affects this had on the scientific community. Also include how the hoax was discovered and the varying responses it received from the scientist(s) involved and in the related fields of human evolution. (5 pts)

The fossils of the Piltdown man were discovered in a village in East Sussex, named Piltdown. An amateur archeologist Charles Dawson and his group of workers and 2 archeologist, claimed to found a piece of an ancient human skull in 1912. Throughout history, significant human fossils were never uncovered in England, until the trio came across what they thought to be the missing link between apes and humans, known as the pilt down man. Not long after, there were fossils found in Asia and Africa that caused scientists to question the validity of the Piltdown man.  In roughly 1949 scientist discovered a new method of dating or finding out how old fossils are by measuring the fluorine content. After that, the Piltdown Hoax was unraveled.  The teeth were even filed down in order to resemble human-like structure. The jaw bone dated back less than a hundred years and it was a female Orangutan. Now known to forger hundreds of other archeological discoveries; as far as motive and evidence it was Martin Hinton.  This was an amazing discovery and it amazes me how Martin Hinton got away from it for so long; it took over seventy years of evolution to find out the Piltdown man was a Hoax.  Due to this discovery scientist were appalled and were destined to not let this hoax, or anything even vaguely smelling of a hoax, happen again. It has caused scientists to be much more detailed and specific in their findings. When in doubt, keep doubting until something can be proven true.

2. Scientists are curious, creative and persistent by nature, but being human, they also have faults. What human faults come into play here in this scenario and how did these faults negatively impact the scientific process? (5 pts)

It took almost 40 years to prove the fraud. The scientists of the time that the bone was discovered did not have the right equipment to verify the authenticity of the fossil. They assumed that it was the missing link, and jumped to quick conclusions, as humans often do. The ego’s and greed of humans were apparent. The inventions in technology after world war one included the fluorine test.  The staining on the fossil was superficial, which is surprising that scientists didn’t discover this before. I thought that it would be obvious that the teeth had been manipulated, however it fooled even trained professionals. It negatively impacted the scientific process because it proved how easily people could be fooled, as well as how quickly ‘scientific proof’ could be overturned.

3. What positive aspects of the scientific process were responsible for revealing the skull to be a fraud? Be specific about scientific tools, processes or methodologies that were involved in providing accurate information about the Piltdown skull. (5 pts)

Because of the fluorine test that they invented around 1949, they found out it was an Orangutan that dated back less then 100 years ago; not ancient at all. The bones were also determined to have chromic acid stains and iron solution alterations to make them look older. After further analysis it was also proven that the teeth had been filed down, as well as pieces of the jaw bone broken off to resemble that of a human.

4. Is it possible to remove the “human” factor from science to reduce the chance of errors like this happening again? Would you want to remove the human factor from science? (10 pts)

I doubt it’s really probable to take the human factor out of the research. Science answers questions, and humans are the ones that develop these questions. Who would be pursuing science if not for humans? And how would humans remove their faults from their existence? Those can argue perfection and absolute truth, but most of us humans know that such a thing is something to strive for, but is not quite attainable. Rather than removing the human factor from science, maybe encourage the evolution of science to counter the human factor. When in doubt, keep doubting until you can prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that something is true. And even then, there is a possibility it will be proven wrong later. Such is the beauty, and fault, of science.

5. Life Lesson: What lesson can you take from this historical event regarding taking information at face value from unverified sources? (5 pts)

Never take anything as face value when dealing with science. Or even life in general. It is always good to over analyze, as opposed to under-analyze. Even in my life, I am taking my time with schooling, because I don’t want to rush through and realize once I get all of my degrees, that I chose the wrong profession. Take your time and be sure about things, look before you