In 1912, an amateur archaeologist in East Sussex made the most remarkable find in British palaeontology. Parts of a human-like skull and an ape-like jawbone suggested that Piltdown Man was a crucial missing link between humans and apes.
Four decades later, the entire discovery was revealed as a forgery, the most ambitious scientific hoax ever mounted. Careers crumbled, textbooks had to be rewritten.
Now, exactly 50 years after the forgery was exposed, modern scientists will look at Piltdown Man in the Pfizer Annual Science Forum.
To coincide with the forum on Tuesday, the Natural History Museum in London will display the Piltdown fossils for the first time since their inglorious withdrawal in 1953.
...
Dr. Terry Mortenson | 1/15/2009
