I am having a conversation over e-mail with a guy who says that Piltdown Man was being taught at the college level in the 1970's despite having been debunked 20 years earlier as a fraud. Is this true? Is there a good reason for it if it is? Can some one find me evidence of this?
Took Physical Anthropology in college in the 80's and it was discussed but only as one of many hoaxes attempted with some success and how it was debunked. I'm sure it's probably still being brought up in beginning Anthro classes
No. It was under suspicion for a long time, even before it was debunked in 1953. By the 70s it was old news.
It was taught as evidence of fraud and earlier convictions that turned out to be wrong. It wasn't taught as evidence for evolution.
No. Piltdown Man is a favorite topic of evolution-deniers. But it's such a pathetic argument because Piltdown Man is an excellent example of how science weeds out falsehoods and keeps the truth. It wasn't creationists that discovered Piltdown Man was a fraud, it was scientists. Tell him that denying evolution is like denying the Holocaust.
