The Piltdown hoax began in February 1912 when amateur British paleontologist Charles Dawson contacted Sir Arthur Smith Woodward regarding skull fragments which Dawson said were discovered by workmen digging in the Piltdown gravel pit in Sussex, England. Dawson and Woodward formed an excavation team and by the end of 1912 the rest of the “Piltdown Man” had been discovered. This sensational “discovery” consisting of parts of a human skull, part of an orangutan jaw and several teeth from various animals, was officially presented to the Geological Society of London in December 1912. For 40 years, Piltdown Man remained a controversial topic within the scientific community, with high-profile scientists on both sides of the debate. In 1953, Piltdown was finally proven to be a hoax. The bones had been stained to make them appear ancient while the teeth had been sloppily filed to change their wear pattern. The Piltdown hoax remains one of the most notorious scientific hoaxes of the 20th century.                   

       In November 1953, Time published evidence gathered by Kenneth Page Oakley, Sir Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark and Joseph Weiner proving that the Piltdown Man was a forgery and demonstrating that the fossil was a composite of three different species. It was of a human skull of medieval age, the 500-year-old lower jaw of a Sarawak orangutan and chimpanzee fossil teeth. The appearance of age had been created by staining the bones with an iron solution and chromic acid. Microscopic examination revealed file-marks on the teeth, and it was deduced from this that someone had modified the teeth to give them a shape more suited to a human diet.                           

          

        Many individuals may argue that it was Dawson’s inexperience that was at fault; however, I believe it was his greed and ambition that led hid to do this. As human beings we are not all perfect and like in any professions we all make mistakes and science is not the exception. One might wonder how these faked fragments of bone fooled the best scientist of that time. Perhaps the desire to be a part of a great discovery blinded those charged with authenticating it. Many English scientist felt left out by discoveries on the continent which might have been the cause of this hoax. I believe that the hoax had a negative impact in the sense that it would be harder to convince those who did not believe in science.                                                                         

         With few exceptions nobody suggested that the finds were a hoax until the very end. It was not until a new dating technique, the fluorine absorption test, became available. The Piltdown fossils were dated with this test in 1949; the tests proved that the fossils were relatively modern. The original Piltdown teeth were examined by the three scientists. The first and second molars were worn to the same degree; the inner margins of the lower teeth were more worn than the outer -- the 'wear' was the wrong way round; the edges of the teeth were sharp and unbeveled; the exposed areas of dentine were free of cavities and flush with the surrounding enamel; the biting surface of the two molars did not form a uniform surface, the planes were out of alignment. That the teeth might have been misplaced after the death of Piltdown man was considered but an X-ray showed the lower contact surfaces of the roots were correctly positioned. This X-ray also revealed that contrary to the 1916 radio graph the roots were unnaturally similar in length and disposition.

 The molar surface was examined under a microscope. They were scarred by criss-cross scratches suggesting the use of an abrasive.                                                                                                                      

          I do not believe that the “human” factor can be removed nor should be removed. I truly believe that the human factor is what makes science so interesting. If we were to remove it from science then we would not have ideas turn into experiments and experiment into reality. Humans are nor perfect and are subject to make mistakes; however, it is those mistakes that keep us learning and becoming better in whatever we do.  I usually do not believe everything I see or read. I have learned that not everything I read and see is true. However, this was a huge event and I think that I would have believed it, especially because it took so long to be proven wrong. At the end of the day I believe this hoax helped scientist to be a bit more careful and not be afraid to go against a discovery.