Piltdown Man!

1.  Begin by giving a brief synopsis of the Piltdown hoax, including when and where it was found, by whom, its scientific significance (what would it have taught us) and varying effects 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.

- Over the span of 40 years, scientists were fooled by a hoax. In 1912, in a village named Piltdown, a man named Charles Dawson claimed to have found a human skull from early ancient man. After this discovery, geologists Arthur Smith Woodward, who was England’s best geologist and paleontologist Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, went out to comb the area and proceeded to make new bone discoveries. In these findings, Dawson had discovered a jawbone, which came from the skull that he had found earlier. One of the important characteristics of this discovery was the similarity between the teeth found and human teeth, as well as the jawbone being similar to that of an ape’s. In December of 1912, the discovery was made public and put England as the only country to have ancient human fossils and the oldest remains, known as the “Piltdown Man.” This created a large crowd of followers and support from those like Arthur Keen who theorized that before humans were able to walk up right, they had a larger brain. The following years led to more discoveries until Dawson had passed away in the year 1916. This Piltdown Man model had been the leading evolutionary evidence and research all the way up until the 1920’s when discoveries of ancient human fossils in Africa and Asia. These findings caused confusion amongst believers and confidence in Dawson’s doubters, as they were not similar to the Piltdown Model, instead being less human. It was not until after WW2 where new technology became available for scientists to test evidence and theories by using fluorine to find the estimated date of the fossils. In 1949, it was revealed through testing that the findings of Dawson, Chardin, and Woodward were recent and not ancient as they suggested which led to a more testing by scientist. By 1953, scientists had made the discovery that the artifacts were stained, teeth from the fossils were filed down to appear more human-like, materials were cut, and the jaw is not human, instead it was from a female orangutan. Because of this, Woodward, Dawson, and Chardin had lost all credibility and there discoveries were put under suspicion of being a hoax. In, 1975 Martin Hinton had remains of carved bones were found, similar works to that of the Piltdown Man which put him in suspicion of the hoax with the three archeologists.

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?

   -A human fault that might have played its part in the Piltdown Man was pride, and ignorance, or in other words a willful acceptance due to selfish motives. England before the discoveries had basically not even put a foot into the doors of ancient discoveries, so when the three started to make these discoveries, there was rarely any speculation since England had become the hot bed for ancient human remains. This was a major factor in disrupting the scientific process as many people ignorantly accepted the discovery without fully completing a background test on the remains. Secondly, the pride of the three archeologists is another human characteristic to play a role. When put in a situation to make you one of the most well-known discoverers in history, it is natural to want the fame and glory that comes with it and not let it go. This has impacted the scientific process in not only bad but good ways as well. For instance because of the huge historical impact these discoveries had, scientists now know that it is important to test all theories and evidence to leave no doubt in the truth of their findings.

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.

- The Scientific method was used by scientists by rejecting, altering, testing, and refining the hypothesis. Ultimately the continuous testing through the use of a chemical fluorine and carbon dating revealed that the fossils were recent and not ancient as suggested.

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? 

   -It is not possible to remove the human factor. Errors happen because of humans; however, human reason, which could not be found in any other species or technology is what leads to these discoveries in the first place. Science itself comes from human curiosity and ambition, technology in science is obviously helpful but it in of itself cannot form a scientific hypothesis. Removing humans would remove the questioning discoveries.

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

  - The lesson I would take from this is to never accept something put in front of you until you understand how it was put in front of you. The Piltdown Hoax expressed the exploitation of individuals desperate for something outside of the ordinary. In any situation common sense is your best friend and when that fails, it's not necessary to reject what was provided, but instead understand it. It's easy to find answers to a problem or scenario. But it's enlightening to understand the problem or scenario for better judgment.