1. The Piltdown Man hoax was an earth 20th century scientific hoax that misled scientists for 40 years by the "discovery" of a potential ancestor that they believed to be close to a million years old. The fossil was discovered in a village named Piltdown in England in 1912 and reported by Charles Dawson. If it was accurate, it would have suggested that brain size developed before upright walking, but we now know by looking at data of legs that the opposite is true. The hoax was found out in the late 1940s and early 1950s as they ran a series of chemical tests to try and date the fossil, first having it be suggested it was only 100,000 years old, later less than 100 years old and belonging to an orangutan. Observations showed that the fossil had parts broken off, false staining and the teeth were filed down and scratch marks remained.
2. Probably the biggest issues that came out of human error were some people trying to satisfy their own ego, and others being too naive and trusting. Because of this, deceit was easily concocted and people were none the wiser for 40 years!
3. Kenneth Oakley had run chemical tests on the fake fossil to try and date them, and proved they were fraudulent fossils. I think a positive outlook on this is that people developed chemical dating further and were able to detect hoaxes easier from this process. If people also didn't question and took everything at face value we might have a totally different understanding of science as we know it today.
4. The human factor of science is to ask questions ultimately. There are those who seek to sabotage that integrity and are not true scientists if they do not ask questions and seek factual truth. I do not think removing the human element, if even possible, would be wise. If we removed asking questions, there would be no room for discovery and exploration of things we could only dream of finding.
5. Definitely ask questions has to be the life lesson from this hoax. Ask questions and make sure hypotheses are falsifiable and make sure you have all your facts straight before you go public, lest you make yourself to look like a fool.
Hey Emily,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your synopsis of the Piltdown Hoax. I thought what you had to say brought all the information together very nicely and it was easy to follow along. I also agree completely with your statement that "if we took everything at face value we might have a totally different understanding of science as we know it today". The scientific method really helps us with that and also makes sure there is less opportunity for error. Overall, great explanation and understanding of the Piltdown Hoax!
Well done identifying the significance of this find. With regard to content, this is a complicated event and you leave some holes in your description that would have been good to fill in for your readers. For example, what types of bones were found? Why were they unique? Why did they support the large brain theory? Who else was involved in the hoax besides Dawson? What was the response of the scientific community to this discovery?
ReplyDeleteI understand the charge of "satisfying their own ego" as pride and ambition are two faults that probably were involved in the creation of this hoax. I don't understand where naivete and trust are involved, however. Are you suggesting that the group of educated scientists whose job it is to evaluate and question scientific discoveries were too trusting and naive? If so, I don't buy that. Scientists challenge each other all the time. They ask questions, they test and retest, and they scrutinize the logic of claims. The question is, why didn't they do that for this discovery? The answer likely lies in the fact that this was the first hominid found on English soil. I'm not sure if I could be brave enough to challenge and falsify my country's claim to fame. National pride was likely the human fault involved here.
Good job explaining the process that uncovered the hoax. But why were scientists still studying this find some 40 years after it was uncovered? What aspect of science does that represent?
Good discussion on the issue of the 'human factor'. I agree with your conclusion.
Good life lesson.
Hello Emily,
ReplyDeleteYour summary for the first portion was well worded, and was a good overall view of the Piltdown hoax. And your thoughts on part 2 was definitely one of the things I pointed out as well, which was their ego, however, I would also argue that another part of why it was thought to be correct and accepted without much challenge was British nationalism. They had not had any major discoveries like that before. Furthermore, I definitely agree that questioning things is the life lesson to be learned here. Had the scientific community examined these findings closely, they could have easily come to the conclusion that it was in fact a hoax, much sooner then they did.