Piltdown Hoax

The piltdown hoax was a fossilized skull found about a hundred years ago or so in Britain, which was hailed as the missing link between apes and humans. This skull was discovered by Charles Dawson and Sir Arthur Smith Woodward on Valentine's Day, February 14th 1912. This astounding finding took place in Barkham Manor near the village of Piltdown, England. The significance of this scientific finding could of been such a big deal, to know they had found an artifact that could of connected our early ancestry with humans and apes, a creature that could of been part ape and part human. it would of all made sense and Darwin's theory of evolution could of been proven, our origins would of been easier to understand now than just having these theories that we evolved, branched off of, etc... The Hoax was discovered by Kenneth Oakley when he did a chemical test to help authenticate the bones and determine the date of the fossil. The teeth of the skull that had been filed down were from an actual old ape, it had no relation to the fossil they were actually looking for. Conan Doyle was the one who brought in spiritualism,the scientist were paleontologists and they appalled at the fact that they were bamboozled.

The human faults that come into play are egotism, pride, ambition, and rivalry these faults impact the scientific process because as it goes to show when there is a rivalry between "men" it can make you do almost anything just to prove you are better or smarter. In this case the scientist decided to forge an artifact that at that time had some serious meaning it could of changed things for humanity but now we will never know. with these faults it'll almost make you do anything just to prove you are better.

Kenneth Oakley applied a chemical test to help authenticate and date the fossils. The result revealed Piltdown Man to be much younger than expected. What was responsible for it was In the mineral department, tests were carried out to estimate the nitrogen content. When they tested the Piltdown remains, it resulted that the skull was in fact fake. The skull was not as old as they thought and the teeth had been filed down, it was just sort of a old ape jaw. Oakley revealed a forgery on a scale that had never been seen before. The jaw was not even human, he figured out that the jaw was probably an Orangutan's. The teeth had simply been filed flat to disguise them. The fossils had been boiled and carefully stained with chemicals to give them an aged look. But the canine tooth, one of the key discoveries, seemed to have been made in a rush. It was crudely filed and colored with paint.

I don't think it possible to remove the human factor because it is important and will always be used since we like to examine the relationships between humans and how they connect with our environment. i wouldn't' remove it because we need that in our scientific methods. It might make errors here and there but it still helps build up the method from scratch. By focusing on improving efficiency, creativity, productivity and job satisfaction, with the goal of minimizing errors. 

The lesson i took from this is that always make sure you verify with the right people that certain artifacts are legitimately genuine before you announce to the world you have made the biggest discovery ever known to man. never believe someone just because they said it they have to show facts and proof. Always look back at their previous findings and always question their credibility, as to who are they, what are they known for, etc..