Piltdown Hoax

The Piltdown hoax is a reference to a broken ape jaw and a piece of human skull both altered to appear as parts to the same skull. This created a falsely perceived link between human and ape ancestors. Charles Dawson first discovered the piece of skull in Piltdown, a village in Southern England, in 1912. The evidence was supported by many prestigious scientists to the time including Arthur Keith, Arthur Smith Woodland, and Teilhard de Chardin. Martin Hinton, however, a volunteer under Woodward at the Natural history museum, was skeptical of the discovery, but kept quiet against the hoax's wide acceptance.
A fault in human nature is displayed by Martin Hinton's neglect to act on his own beliefs; cowardice. Martin Hinton and the assumed others who held their tongue before the discoveries of Charles Dawson, Arthur Smith Woodward, and Teilhard de Chardin. Another fault revealed by the situation is the inclination to accept evidence that is wanted. Britain was hoping to have its own neanderthalic discovery to match its competitors. For instance, many discoveries telling of ancient humanoids had been found in Germany and France. When the desired evidence appeared, it was exclusively locked up it in the Natural History Museum for few to examine and therefore question. Arthur Keith individually displays a conclusion affected by personal interests through his quick acceptance of the Piltdown man which supported his own theories of human evolution. This hurt the science field by distracting efforts that could have been focused elsewhere. In addition, it hampered many peoples' trust in the discoveries of scientists, causing illogical skepticism of actual, valid evidence.
A positive aspect of the scientific process is that it invites and allows continual questioning. For example, Kennith Oakley put the skull to a chemical test to predict its nitrogen content and thereby determine its approximate age even after the evidence had been accepted as valid for 40 years. Rather than denying the evidence or making up an illogical justification for fact, scientists accepted they had been wrong and revised their theories. The basic structure of scientific process offers constant revision and progression with theories and hypothesis.
It is impossible to remove the human factor from science when it is analyzed by humans. It is possible, however, for each individual to avoid decisions reflecting faults in human nature. This is supported by  Kennith's decision to reconsider the validity of the Piltdown man's skull. As a part of the Natural History Museum himself, he denied pride and conformity to uncover truth. More over, I would argue that removing the human factor from science would make it useless. Humans are not changing science itself, but discovering it; the only thing changing directly are humans themselves. For example, the existence of Gigantopithecus did not begin in the 1900's when its bones were discovered by mankind. The significances of science is to add to our ever-growing pool of knowledge, that we may know how to improve our situation. Science's purpose requires that we are human.
Like using solely Wikipedia as the source for an essay, it is unwise to accept proposed truths as fact until knowing with individual certainty that they are valid. Individually understanding the claim offered is vital to avoiding such corruption of knowledge as the Piltdown man.