The Piltdown Hoax
The Piltdown Hoax was one of the biggest hoaxes in the history of science, and is what I believe to be one of the reasons we now have the scientific method in order to prove an hypotheses. The Piltdown Man, was an supposed finding of an piece of a primitive man’s skull, and later findings of a jaw bone and teeth. This Piltdown man was found in the 1900s in Sunnex, England, by a laborer which was digging in a nearby town, named Piltdown. The piece of the skull which was found, was then passed on to Charles Dawson, a nearby archaeologists. Dawson then spent all summer digging in Piltdown, searching for another piece of the puzzle, which he did find, the jawbone and teeth of the Piltdown man. At this point in time, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was simply a theory, with no facts to back up his hypotheses. Without any fossils of early humans or apes, there was no evidence to support the theory of evolution. However, this new found fossil of the Piltdown man, was about to change science and evolution in its entirety. The Piltdown Man was considered the missing link which connected humans and apes, the answer needed to prove evolution.
Due to the hype of the possible change in evolutionary history, the scientists and archeologists involved in this finding, may have overlooked many important factors in their studies. Rather than jump to the conclusion that they had indeed found the answer in which connected humans and apes, they should have made sure they had absolute proof of their findings. I feel they should have took the time to really research and study the fossil more thoroughly, before announcing their findings to the public. I believe the excitement and the view of the public eye had in turn skewed their decision making abilities when it came to the scientific findings.
In the 1900’s, the technology in which we have today, did not exist or even come close, leaving these scientists and archeologist without any of the necessary tools to prove the authenticity of the fossil they had found. But in 1953, the Piltdown Man was further investigated, and proven to be a fake. A chemical test was done to find the nitrogen content, which would in turn reveal the date and authenticity of the fossil. It was found that the Piltdown Man, which was said to be over a half a million years old, was in fact not that old at all. Not only was the time off, but after being studied under a microscope, it was also found that the teeth had been filed down and the remains were not even human. These fossils were fakes, they had been tampered with to look older and human like, and were also planted at Piltdown. The man found responsible for this mess was not the founder of these fossils, but a man named Conan Doyle, who was himself had an interest in fossils. But why would this man create such a hoax in the scientific community? It is believed this act was committed because he himself was embarrassed in the scientific community, and it was almost a way to get back at those who had shunned him and his beliefs.
The main factor in the Piltdown Hoax was the human aspect. On one end we have scientists which believed what they saw, rather than putting much research on their findings, while we also have an angry scientists and author who basically set up these scientists for failure. These reasons are what I believe to be why we now have the scientific method in order to help prove a hypothesis. Although the use of the scientific method does not necessarily mean that a hypothesis and a study will be proved true, it does help weed out the unnecessary human factors which can lead to an occurrence like the Piltdown Hoax. In using the scientific method, the findings must be falsified and throughly researched and studied by scientists other than the ones who have performed the study or experiment.
The Piltdown Hoax is an example of why you cannot always believe what you hear or see. Although we would like to think that something is true if it was discovered by a scientist which has thoroughly studied an issue, this is not always the case. It is always important to look at both the pros and cons of a situation and way the facts at hand, in order to draw our own conclusions, not rely solely the on the conclusions of others.
I agree that science has re-established the strict methods of proving a hypothesis. However, the problem with Piltdown Man was the fact that those methods were already in place. Even with the archaic technology that existed in the early 1900s it was still possible to look closer at the findings. The fact that the authenticity was not verified was more from the fact that the artifacts were falsified to look ancient to the naked eye. They were then locked up so the theory that this was the missing link could not be challenged, tested, or proven.
ReplyDeleteTo assume that the scientists involved with Piltdown Man should have made sure they “had absolute proof of their findings” assumes that they were all duped as well. To say this assumption would be naïve would be a gross understatement. It is very possible, and highly likely that one, if not all, of the scientists at Piltdown did not want anything verified. When we look at the fact that the artifacts were altered (to put it nicely) and then they were locked up so that no other scientists could employ any portion of the empirical method we have to wonder why. Of course with the benefit of 100 years and 20/20 hindsight we can assume it was purely for diabolical and selfish reasons on someone’s part.
If nothing else, I believe the Piltdown Hoax forced the scientific community as a whole to not take anything at face value. There were those that wanted the information to be true and those that didn’t believe the information to be true. Both factions should have been allowed and encouraged to challenge and test the findings. It is only in this type of environment that science will truly be accurate and beneficial.
Good comment.
DeleteMelissa,
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed your essay. i agree with you but Id also like to comment on all of the unknown when it comes to the Piltdown Man hoax. I believe its hard to say who was really behind the hoax, whether it was one man or all of them though it know doubt sent others on what I like to call a wild goose chase. To announce that you have the answer or actual "missing link" in this instance or allow it to be believed that your "science" in fact point to fact or truth while knowing it was faked could really be considered a waste of time. I personally believe that either a very sneaky participant of the study put it all together but more likely all of them.
First, a correction. The scientific method has actually been dated back as far as what is called the Islamic Golden age, about 1000 years ago, long before the Piltdown find, and it was probably in use purely by accident even before that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Darwin's theory was not in question at this point. The Piltdown find had nothing to do with supporting the idea of evolution. This is a misconception that stretches through your post. If the fossil had been valid, it would have helped explain *how* humans evolved, not *if*. Specifically, it would have supported Woodward's pet theory that humans evolved larger brains before bipedalism. Make sure you understand the difference here. This is very important.
One final caution: The term "missing link" is a false term not used in the scientific world (though I understand it is common in the media and used in the video). There is no such thing as one link between humans and apes. We ARE apes, first of all, but there is also a continuum of species from modern humans stretching back to the common ancestor of humans and non-human apes, each representing a small link in a continuous evolutionary chain. No one link is more important than any other.
Why did they feel the need to jump to the conclusion? What caused the rush to judgement? And remember that this was a hoax, so why perpetrate the hoax to begin with? That is the key to the question here.
We actually don't know who was the ultimate culprit, but Doyle is far down the line of possible suspects. In addition to the technology, what other factors of the scientific process led to this discovery of the hoax?
Do you want to remove the human factor from science? Are there any positive aspects of the human factor that you would not want to get rid of?
Good on the final comment. You have some misconceptions on this topic. Make sure you review the material and perhaps read through some other student posts to clarify issues.