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PILTDOWN MAN
Sociologyindex, Sociology Books 2011
Piltdown Man is one of the great
science hoaxes of the 20th century. Human fossil remains were discovered in 1912 on an
estate near Piltdown Common in England.
“Piltdown Man” bones were
claimed to be evidence of the evolutionary transition from hominid to homo sapiens and
were thought to be very important.
While some doubt was raised about the
authenticity of the “Piltdown Man” discovery it
was not until 1953 (after the use of fluorine tests for dating archaeological materials)
that the bones were revealed as a hoax.
There is still considerable mystery about the
perpetrator of this “Piltdown Man” hoax which
stood for so long.
“Piltdown Man” confused the scientific
community for 40 years until it was discovered that the skull was only 500 years old
rather than 500,000, and the jawbone was that of an orangutan.
The Piltdown Hoax illustrates the dangerous effects a preconceived notion of what
"should" be true can have on the scientific pursuit of the truth.
Piltdown Man: Combining the Instruction of Scientific Ethics and Qualitative
Analysis
Vincent, John B.
Abstract: In combination with lectures on scientific method and the problems of scientific
misconduct in a freshman chemistry course at The University of Alabama, a laboratory
experiment was developed to allow students to feel some of the sense of scientific
discovery associated with the exposure of the Piltdown Man fraud. This is accomplished by
modifying a commonly performed freshman chemistry laboratory experiment, qualitative
analysis of group III metal ions. Pieces of chalk are treated with chromium, manganese,
and iron to simulate the treatment used to forge the Piltdown "fossils";
students can use techniques in qualitative analysis schemes for the group III ions to
determine whether the samples are "forgeries" and if so which metal ion(s) were
used. - adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1999JChEd..76.1501V
Woodward, A. Smith. The Piltdown Skull. Nature, vol. 92, pp. 110-111. September 25, 1913.
Woodward, A. Smith. Note on the Piltdown Man (Eoanthropus dawsoni ). Geol. Mag. n. s.,
Dec. 5, vol. 10, pp. 433-434, pl. 15. October, 1913.
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