Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Piltdown Hoax

During the year 1912, in England, a  man named Charles Dawson claimed to have found a fragment of an ancient human skull and jawbone.  Supposed found when digging through a gravel pit, Dawson called fellow researchers Arthur Smith Woodward and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin up to Piltdown.  They were geologists and a French paleontologists respectively, the supposed discovery drew major attention because it marked the first ancient human remains found in England.  For many decades, this had fooled the scientific community into believing that this was indeed the remains of human ancestors.  However, extensive studying and chemical testing would prove that these were illegitimate and were merely presented to appear millions of years old.  By submerging the bones with certain chemical compounds, they were given the appearance to be ancient fossil remains.  The skull was tested to be the skull of a human from around the medieval period.  The jawbone were from an orangutan around 500 years old.  It unraveled quickly and the world realized it was a hoax.
Quite simply, nobody would step out and admit to the fault.  Despite being completely exposed, the three scientists remained quiet about the hoax.

The idea of prestige and pride clearly blinded Dawson, assuming Dawson is indeed the culprit.  Scientists want to make important discoveries, and more importantly, they want the credit and a place in history.  Humans are naturally greedy, because being greedy means surviving and therefore reproducing.  It is easy to see why somebody would try to make a illegitimate claim to a discovery assuming it was not exposed.

The modernization of technology and sciences helped expose this.  The advance of microscopes and their magnification strength as well as chemical testing helped reveal the true identity of the fragments.

In order to remove the "human" factor in science, you would have to essentially remove the human.  It is natural for humans to want attention, recognition, and to be greedy.  Also, the human factor drives the competitiveness of science and the will to discover more and learn more about life and the universe.  I would not want to remove the human factor because although it might create scandals and hoaxes, the same human factor drives others to test, examine, and even reexamine each claim and case.

People should not always believe what they see, or what they hear.  Unless supported by a credible source, tested, and confirmed to be true, anything can be proven otherwise.  There is a reason the scientific method was adopted.  You must take caution on what to believe because it can very easily be proven misinformation, as was the Piltdown Hoax.

5 comments:

  1. Good background on the hoax. I believe Dawson was dead by the time the hoax was uncovered. Aside from being the first early human to be found on English soil what was the significance of this find from a scientific perspective? If it had been valid, what would it have taught us about how humans evolved?

    You explain why the hoax may have been perpetrated, but why did no one challenge the validity of the hoax and its implications? It is the job of scientists to double check findings. Why did British scientists in particular seem to accept this fossil with so little inquiry?

    More specifics on the testing credited for exposing the hoax would have been appropriate. Can you describe the fluorine testing process? Also, aside from technological advances, what about the process of science itself helped to ensure that the hoax would be exposed? Why were scientists still investigating this fossil 40 years later?

    I agree with your conclusions on the value of the human factor in science.

    Good summary.

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  2. Hello David, i agree with you when you say that scientist want a place in history. This had had to have been his motive especially since their country did not have any huge findings. It is incredible that he fooled scientist for 40 years! I also agree with your last paragraph, and i think that one should not believe anything unless one does research and knows that the information is true.

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  3. Hi David, I found your blog post to be very informative. You did an exelent job of summerising the hoax, I did not know that the skull was from a human and the jaw from a chimpanzee. The video I saw on it made it seem like they were both from a female chimpanzee and only a hundred years old but that source may have been mistaken or not clear enough. Also I agree with your last paragraph that is solid advice!
    --Cody Bever

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  4. David,
    Interesting how you started your essay. You opened up with a historical statement. I love to read different styles of writting and I liked yours very much. You also gave excellent advice on your conclusion paragraph.

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  5. David,

    You had a good summary of the events of the hoax. Also, good information on the factors that lead to the uncovering of the fraudulent fossils. You mentioned greed as one of the human factors, which I agree with, I would also include pride and egotism since these scientists wanted to be recognized by the people. They wanted fame and riches that came with it could suggest their greed. Nice Job.

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