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The Boldest Hoax [ so-called Piltdown Man ]
PBS ^ | Original Broadcast Date, January 11, 2005 | NOVA

Posted on 06/12/2011 6:15:05 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

NARRATOR:For 40 years, a fossil skull discovered in Piltdown, a quaint village in England, was hailed as the missing link between apes and humans. It was named Piltdown Man. Later it would be called a forgery and set off a storm of scandal...

ANDY CURRANT (Natural History Museum, London):It's a vicious hoax. It was a terrible thing to do. It really was a horrible, nasty, vicious piece of work.

NARRATOR:....the identity of the Piltdown hoaxer has remained a mystery. With special access to Britain's Natural History Museum archives, NOVA reopens the case and reveals hints of a cover up at the heart of one of England's most revered scientific institutions.

ANDY CURRANT:Maybe somebody in the museum could have been involved in this, and that, that wouldn't be good...

JAMES MOORE:...in Germany, quarrymen working in the Neander Valley, made a remarkable find... named "Neanderthal" and Germany the birthplace of early man. But soon evidence of early man was being found in France and Spain as well. To their annoyance, the British had none.

RICHARD MILNER:The British had no early man. The French had lots of them; the Germans had lots of them. They had Neanderthals all over the place. They had caves full of beautiful pictures. And where was the earliest Englishman? There wasn't any...

NARRATOR:...On the 14th of February, 1912, Dawson wrote with his exciting news.

CHARLES DAWSON (Amateur Scientist, Dramatization):I have come across a very old Pleistocene bed which I think is going to be interesting. I think I have a portion of a human skull which will rival the Germans' ape man...

(Excerpt) Read more at pbs.org ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; piltdownhoax; piltdownman; unitedkingdom
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NOVA | The Boldest Hoax | TV Program Description | PBS | Original PBS Broadcast Date: January 11, 2005 NOVA | The Boldest Hoax | TV Program Description | PBS | Original PBS Broadcast Date: January 11, 2005 NOVA | The Boldest Hoax | TV Program Description | PBS | Original PBS Broadcast Date: January 11, 2005

1 posted on 06/12/2011 6:15:09 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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2 posted on 06/12/2011 6:15:59 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
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The Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve

in local libraries
Frayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]

3 posted on 06/12/2011 6:16:03 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
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To: SunkenCiv

The boldest hoax was the Hope ‘n Change Man.


4 posted on 06/12/2011 6:16:14 AM PDT by AU72
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

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5 posted on 06/12/2011 6:16:48 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
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To: AU72

:’)


6 posted on 06/12/2011 6:18:49 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
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To: SunkenCiv
It is not the boldest hoax -- global warming is the boldest hoax! Even after those E. Anglia emails showed those scientists to be frauds who probably comitted criminal violations, people are still holding to this junk science garbage.

At least the piltdown man was cute. Global Gorebal warming is just a Marxist scheme to rob wealth from the wealthier countries to the poorer countries and, of course, to dishonestly line Al Gore's poclets.

7 posted on 06/12/2011 6:22:38 AM PDT by Stepan12 (Palin & Bolton in 2012)
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To: AU72

“The boldest hoax was the Hope ‘n Change Man.”

So true! Hopefully more and more will come to that conclusion before 2012.


8 posted on 06/12/2011 6:36:19 AM PDT by Heart of Georgia
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To: SunkenCiv
Liberals are a hoax. They preach one thing but do the opposite. They force people to do things they do not do themselves. They have corrupted science to extract money for their projects and propaganda. They are corrupt politicians and phony leaders.
9 posted on 06/12/2011 6:36:29 AM PDT by mountainlion (A nation that forgets it's past has no future. WinstonChirchill)
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To: SunkenCiv

Yeah, yeah, every group of humans wants to have the *birthplace of humanity* right in their own confines.

(including this middle American)


10 posted on 06/12/2011 6:37:25 AM PDT by wolfcreek (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsd7DGqVSIc)
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To: SunkenCiv
What about that there little prehistoric monkey they were making a big deal about a couple years ago? They were making a huge deal of it, I started to hear scientists were skeptical of it's importance and now nothing. Wouldn't be a hoax like this, but I was curious how relevant little missing link monkey still was.
11 posted on 06/12/2011 6:39:25 AM PDT by nerdwithagun (I'd rather go gun to gun then knife to knife.)
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To: Stepan12

Global Warming is similar to Piltdown man in another way:

Both have lasted, because scientists WANT them to be true.

At the time Piltdown Man was found, scientists thought the theory of evolution required “missing links.” None had been found. Piltdown man provided one.

Modern day intellectuals WANT to believe that mankind is evil, and industrialized mankind doubly so....


12 posted on 06/12/2011 6:42:01 AM PDT by I Shall Endure
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To: SunkenCiv
JAMES MOORE:...in Germany, quarrymen working in the Neander Valley, made a remarkable find... named "Neanderthal" and Germany the birthplace of early man. But soon evidence of early man was being found in France and Spain as well. To their annoyance, the British had none.

Human baises, jealousies, and desires got in the way of science.

Its the same with Louis Leakey's theories about early man in the new world. I'm not sure I agree with them but he certainly didn't deserve the treatment he got.
13 posted on 06/12/2011 6:42:33 AM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: SunkenCiv

A hoax is done for humor.

When science lies, it’s called fraud.

That’s what Anthropogenic Global Warming is not a hoax or a scam, it is scientific fraud.


14 posted on 06/12/2011 6:43:32 AM PDT by Ghost of Philip Marlowe (Prepare for survival.)
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To: I Shall Endure
Both have lasted, because scientists WANT them to be true.

That statement makes no sense and misstates the situation.

The exposure of the Piltdown Man hoax was a crowning achievement of the Scientific Method. There is not a scientist i the world that has "WANTED" Piltdown Man to be "true" since the hoax was exposed. It proved that close examination and double and triple checking will eventually render what science is looking for: the truth.

Sadly, that rigor has NOT been present when examining AGW, since the US Government (and others) made it clear that AGW was the end point of scientific "pursuit" and funding would only follow examinations that land at the desired end-point.

I strongly suggest you read history and clarify your knowledge about science history.

But there is shame about the current chase of dollars over principle with AGW. But even that is starting to unravel in the face of scientists who dare to stand at the table and yell "faker" to the AGW carriers.

15 posted on 06/12/2011 6:58:54 AM PDT by freedumb2003 (Herman Cain 2012)
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To: SunkenCiv

Piltdown man has been replaced by Barak Obama as the boldest hoax ever.


16 posted on 06/12/2011 7:05:53 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Islam is the religion of Satan and Mohammed was his minion.)
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To: SunkenCiv

We all know that it is impossible to fool scientists. They keep telling us this is true and that’s why man-made global warming has to be true, because so many scientists in so many fields unrelated to weather studies believe it is true.

Therefore, because so many scientists of the day believed in the Piltdown Man, any disclosure of the Piltdown Man as hoax is itself a hoax.

This is a line of reasoning that cannot be refudiated.


17 posted on 06/12/2011 7:19:23 AM PDT by wildbill (You're just jealous because the Voices talk only to me.)
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To: AU72
*** The boldest hoax was the Hope ‘n Change Man. ***

Not really.
The Sheeple just missed the disclaimer before all his appearances and commercials.

Warning! For entertainment purposes only!
This STUNT is being performed by a professional.
Do not attempt on your own. Serious injuries may result.
But now 'most' sheeple have had their eyes examined and are now reading the Warning Label :-)

His Hoax Act won't fly any more.

18 posted on 06/12/2011 7:19:46 AM PDT by Condor51 (The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits [A.Einstein])
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To: SunkenCiv

The Piltdwon Man had a daughter....Ardi, also known as
Arrrrrdi har har!


19 posted on 06/12/2011 7:37:35 AM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: SunkenCiv

The boldest hoax until Hussein seized power. Now the current Oval Office occupant is the biggest hoax in modern history.


20 posted on 06/12/2011 8:02:54 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
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