1. Early Human fossils, also known as "The Piltdown Man" were found in England by Charles Dawson. The Piltdown Man was supposed to be the missing connection between apes and humans. Not only scientist were astonished by this finding, but a man named Arthur Keith was also using the Piltdown Man to prove the evolution theory in humans; but it was later discovered that Piltdown Man was in fact a fluke! This was found out by new technology used in World War 2 which helped discover actual dates when fossils were made by measuring fluorine content in the fossil. The test didn't match up and was proved false in the year 1953. The teeth however were made to look like a humans, but they were from an orangutan.
2. Humans are not perfect and have many faults. In this issue, there were no fossils and the man who found them wanted to be known for his finding rather than for scientific purposes. He wanted to be remembered and he got what he wanted, but instead of being remembered for changing science, he's remembered for being a phony.
3. Some positive aspects from scientific process would be allowing tests and questions to doubted theories/experiments. It's not only to question ideas, but also to look for even better and more improved answers. The method used to test the Plitdown Man with the Florine was a perfect example of a scientific process. They tested the subject and were able to conclude that it was false. Also a test on the teeth were shown that it came from an orangutan; therefore that positive aspects of the scientific process were able to find the true discovery of the Plitdown Man.
4. I find it impossible to remove the human factor in science because we as humans mess up and mistakes will come up. Science isn't science unless there are mistakes made. What makes the human factor so great is that it causes curiosity and makes us want to find or correct previous mistakes to further our theory. For Piltdown fossils, they were faked and proved false by human factors. If we just accepted what was given to us, we wouldn't progress in scientific, or any type of study. It may be possible to remove the human factor from science but i don't know why anyone would want too. Mistakes is what makes science move forward.
5. A life lesson learned I would take into consideration from the Piltdown Man would be to always try and correct yourself so you can progress further into the future. If you do not take false actions into consideration, then you won't be able to surpass failures and instead just mask it. There will always be mistakes and humans are not perfect and we have many faults. Fix up any mistake possible and you will achieve many goals!
I thought your summary of the Piltdown Man was very simple and concise yet very informative. I like how you pointed out that the man wanting to be known for this huge scientific discovery is now only known as the man behind the hoax, this is a perfect example of karma and how it comes back around. It is astonishing that someone allowed forty years to be wasted. I really like your answer about removing the "human" factor from science because you make a few excellent points like how mistakes help science progress because I didn't think of that initially but it is extremely true. Science is made up of proving and disproving theories in order to ultimately come up with the best possible answer and that inevitably breeds mistakes. But from those mistakes comes more research and from that research comes more valid answers and options. I also like how you included mistakes in your life lesson because like science, we as humans need mistakes in order to better ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your life lesson that humans do make mistakes. Thats what we need to take away from this situation. That science can always progress do to human error. This did bring a lot of doubt to the scientific community but science is not fool proof.
ReplyDeleteI liked your post. Your summary was very informative and concise. I didn't know that the fluorine technique came from world war 2. I liked how you said Dawson is now remembered as a phony, because that is exactly what he is remembered for. I disagree when you said that the human factor can be taken out of science. I personally think it is impossible to take the human factor out of science unless we take out humans all together. I liked your life lesson, and I have many similar beliefs that we should always consider human error when we are working. We should always try to better ourselves and work towards doing the best. Your post was informative and i enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteOkay on your synopsis but it left out some key points, particularly the description of the fossil find itself. What at was Arthur Keith's theory of human evolution and how did Piltdown help support it?
ReplyDeleteDid you get a chance to review the background on this term in the assignment folder in Blackboard?
Good discussion on human faults but was the perpetrator the only one at fault here? What about the scientific community? Why were they so quick to accept the results?
Great discussion on the positive aspects of science.
"What makes the human factor so great is that it causes curiosity and makes us want to find or correct previous mistakes to further our theory. "
Precisely. Well said. Good summary as well. A little more expansion in your synopsis, but otherwise well done.