Download or read book Unraveling Piltdown written by John Evangelist Walsh and published by Random House (NY). This book was released on 1996 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1913 amateur fossil hunter and archaeologist Charles Dawson found in a gravel pit the cranium and jaw of an entirely new species of humanoid, which became known as Piltdown man, which caused headlines worldwide as the missing link between man and ape. In 1952, it was exposed as a hoax. With eight pages of photos, this book is a wonderful detective story, and the first examination the convincingly fingers the perpetrator.
Download or read book Unraveling Piltdown written by John Evangelist Walsh and published by Random House (NY). This book was released on 1996 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1913 amateur fossil hunter and archaeologist Charles Dawson found in a gravel pit the cranium and jaw of an entirely new species of humanoid, which became known as Piltdown man, which caused headlines worldwide as the missing link between man and ape. In 1952, it was exposed as a hoax. With eight pages of photos, this book is a wonderful detective story, and the first examination the convincingly fingers the perpetrator.
Download or read book Hoax written by Edward Steers and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2013-04-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “lively yet thoroughly researched” look at persistent myths and stubborn scams, and how historians try to combat them (The Courier-Journal). Did a collector with a knack for making sensational discoveries really find the first document ever printed in America? Did Hitler actually pen a revealing set of diaries? Has Jesus’ burial cloth survived the ages? Can the shocking true account of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination be found in lost pages from his murderer’s diary? Napoleon famously observed that “history is a set of lies agreed upon,” and Edward Steers Jr. investigates six of the most amazing frauds ever to gain wide acceptance in this engrossing book. Hoax examines the legitimacy of the Shroud of Turin, perhaps the most hotly debated relic in all of Christianity, and the fossils purported to confirm humanity’s “missing link,” the Piltdown Man. Steers also discusses two remarkable forgeries, the Hitler diaries and the “Oath of a Freeman,” and famous conspiracy theories alleging that Franklin D. Roosevelt had prior knowledge of the planned attack on Pearl Harbor and that the details of Lincoln’s assassination are recorded in missing pages from John Wilkes Booth’s journal. The controversies that Steers presents show that there are two major factors involved in the success of a hoax or forgery—greed and the desire to believe. Though all of the counterfeits and conspiracies featured in Hoax have been scientifically debunked, some remain fixed in many people’s minds as truth. As Steers points out, the success of these frauds highlights a disturbing fact: If true history fails to entertain the public, it is likely to be ignored or forgotten.
Download or read book Hoax Springs Eternal written by Peter Hancock and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-22 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines and extrapolates from famous historical case studies to illustrate principles of cognitive deception and how to avoid being deceived.
Download or read book The Piltdown Forgery written by J. S. Weiner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2003-11-20 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 21 November 1953, one of the most fascinating puzzles in science was finally solved. Three scientists—Joseph Weiner, Kenneth Oakley, and Wilfrid Le Gros Clark—described their investigations into the important fossilized human remains found at Piltdown in Sussex in the early 1900s. Their conclusion was stunning: the remains, and the accompanying materials that supposedly verified them as ancient fossils, had all been faked. The discovery of Piltdown Man had been announced to the world in 1912 by an amateur fossil hunter, Charles Dawson, and the Keeper of Geology at the Natural History Museum in London, Arthur Smith Woodward, who had found fragments of a thickset skull and an ape-like lower jaw, along with other bones and stone tools. These fragments pointed to a species of early human who had lived in England a million years ago-a 'missing link' between apes and modern man. But, as Weiner and his colleagues were to reveal in 1953, the skull was a recent one, and the jaw had belonged to an orang-utan. These and many other 'finds' from Piltdown had been deliberately stained and tampered with to make them appear ancient, and the scientific establishment had been well and truly fooled. Widely praised from its first publication in 1955, The Piltdown Forgery remains the classic account of this story and its many players. In this fiftieth anniversary edition, Professor Chris Stringer, Head of Human Origins at the Natural History Museum in London, provides an introduction to this famous story, and an afterword containing the latest detective-work. Ever-increasing technological powers may one day reveal who did what, and why, but until then this remains an engrossing tale of mixed motives, captivating trickery, and competing egos: a tale fit to rival the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (himself a player in this saga) at his best.
Download or read book The Return of Nature written by John Bellamy Foster and published by Monthly Review Press. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner, 2020 Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize A fascinating reinterpretation of the radical and socialist origins of ecology Twenty years ago, John Bellamy Foster’s Marx’s Ecology: Materialism and Nature introduced a new understanding of Karl Marx’s revolutionary ecological materialism. More than simply a study of Marx, it commenced an intellectual and social history, encompassing thinkers from Epicurus to Darwin, who developed materialist and ecological ideas. Now, with The Return of Nature: Socialism and Ecology, Foster continues this narrative. In so doing, he uncovers a long history of efforts to unite issues of social justice and environmental sustainability that will help us comprehend and counter today’s unprecedented planetary emergencies. The Return of Nature begins with the deaths of Darwin (1882) and Marx (1883) and moves on until the rise of the ecological age in the 1960s and 1970s. Foster explores how socialist analysts and materialist scientists of various stamps, first in Britain, then the United States, from William Morris and Frederick Engels to Joseph Needham, Rachel Carson, and Stephen J. Gould, sought to develop a dialectical naturalism, rooted in a critique of capitalism. In the process, he delivers a far-reaching and fascinating reinterpretation of the radical and socialist origins of ecology. Ultimately, what this book asks for is nothing short of revolution: a long, ecological revolution, aimed at making peace with the planet while meeting collective human needs.
Download or read book The Giant and How He Humbugged America written by Jim Murphy and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a 10-foot tall purported "petrified man" is unearthed from a backyard in upstate New York in 1869, the discovery immediately turns into a spectacle of epic proportions. News of the giant spreads like wildfire, and well over a thousand people come to view him in the first five days alone!Everyone has their own idea of his true origin: Is he an ancient member of the local Onandaga Indian tribe? Is he a biblical giant like Goliath? Soon the interests of world-renowned scientists and people from around the globe are piqued as arguments flare over who he is, where he came from, and if he is real--or just a hoax. In a riveting account of how the Cardiff Giant mystery snowballed into one of America’s biggest money-making spectacles--and scams--Jim Murphy masterfully explores the power of 19th-century media and the unexpected ripple effect that a single corrupt mastermind can produce when given a stage.
Download or read book Creation Rediscovered written by Gerard J. Keane and published by TAN Books. This book was released on 1998 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author covers the basic question, the two basic Evolution theories, the concept of "Special Creation," the discoveries of science, the fossil record, genetics, entropy, the age of the universe, pointers to a Creator, and a number of other questions. Not enough can be said for the importance of this book to get the fundamentals right regarding our Origins, in order that the rest of our thought and all our actions are based upon the truth.
Download or read book Seven Skeletons written by Lydia Pyne and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An irresistible journey of discovery, science, history, and myth making, told through the lives and afterlives of seven famous human ancestors Over the last century, the search for human ancestors has spanned four continents and resulted in the discovery of hundreds of fossils. While most of these discoveries live quietly in museum collections, there are a few that have become world-renowned celebrity personas—ambassadors of science that speak to public audiences. In Seven Skeletons, historian of science Lydia Pyne explores how seven such famous fossils of our ancestors have the social cachet they enjoy today. Drawing from archives, museums, and interviews, Pyne builds a cultural history for each celebrity fossil—from its discovery to its afterlife in museum exhibits to its legacy in popular culture. These seven include the three-foot tall “hobbit” from Flores, the Neanderthal of La Chapelle, the Taung Child, the Piltdown Man hoax, Peking Man, Australopithecus sediba, and Lucy—each embraced and celebrated by generations, and vivid examples of how discoveries of how our ancestors have been received, remembered, and immortalized. With wit and insight, Pyne brings to life each fossil, and how it is described, put on display, and shared among scientific communities and the broader public. This fascinating, endlessly entertaining book puts the impact of paleoanthropology into new context, a reminder of how our past as a species continues to affect, in astounding ways, our present culture and imagination.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Time written by H. James Birx and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2009-01-07 with total page 2569 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "With a strong interdisciplinary approach to a subject that does not lend itself easily to the reference format, this work may not seem to support directly academic programs beyond general research, but it is a more thorough and up-to-date treatment than Taylor and Francis′s 1994 Encyclopedia of Time. Highly recommended." —Library Journal STARRED Review Surveying the major facts, concepts, theories, and speculations that infuse our present comprehension of time, the Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology, & Culture explores the contributions of scientists, philosophers, theologians, and creative artists from ancient times to the present. By drawing together into one collection ideas from scholars around the globe and in a wide range of disciplines, this Encyclopedia will provide readers with a greater understanding of and appreciation for the elusive phenomenon experienced as time. Features Surveys historical thought about time, including those ideas that emerged in ancient Greece, early Christianity, the Italian Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment, and other periods Covers the original and lasting insights of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin, physicist Albert Einstein, philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, and theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Discusses the significance of time in the writings of Isaac Asimov, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Fyodor M. Dostoevsky, Francesco Petrarch, H. G. Wells, and numerous other authors Contains the contributions of naturalists and religionists, including astronomers, cosmologists, physicists, chemists, geologists, paleontologists, anthropologists, psychologists, philosophers, and theologians Includes artists′ portrayals of the fluidity of time, including painter Salvador Dali′s The Persistence of Memory and The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, and writers Gustave Flaubert′s The Temptation of Saint Anthony and Henryk Sienkiewicz′s Quo Vadis Provides a truly interdisciplinary approach, with discussions of Aztec, Buddhist, Christian, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Hindu, Islamic, Navajo, and many other cultures′ conceptions of time Key Themes Biography Biology/Evolution Culture/History Geology/Paleontology Philosophy Physics/Chemistry Psychology/Literature Religion/Theology Theories/Concepts
Download or read book When Good Thinking Goes Bad written by Todd C. Riniolo and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2010-08-05 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Todd Riniolo has written the perfect primer on critical thinking, not just for critical thinkers but for everyone. Not only should this book be the primary text of critical thinking courses throughout the land, but the chapters on how to think critically about political, economic, and social issues should be required reading for all members of Congress, along with the White House staff and the President himself. Riniolo has cracked open our skulls and revealed that what lies inside is a mass of irrational goo that must be reshaped through vigilance and education. This book is where it begins.-MICHAEL SHERMER, Publisher of Skeptic magazine; Monthly columnist for Scientific American; Author of Why People Believe Weird Things and Why Darwin MattersIn 1975, the Environmental Fund sponsored a full-page advertisement in leading newspapers, which predicted that the world as we know it will likely be ruined before the year 2,000, due to the assumed inability of world food production to keep pace with the increase in population. The statement was endorsed by some of the finest thinkers of the time-scientists, scholars, and other professionals who had spent their careers applying the principles of critical thinking to their chosen disciplines. Nonetheless, in this instance, they all failed to use the same rigor in assessing the probability of looming disaster and badly miscalculated.This is just one example of how even the best thinkers can sometimes go astray, and it illustrates how easily unconscious biases can undermine the critical thinking process. In this insightful analysis of the mental pitfalls that trip up even elite critical thinkers, psychologist Todd C. Riniolo makes a compelling case that under certain circumstances everyone is vulnerable to accepting erroneous beliefs.Riniolo begins by reviewing the hallmarks of critical thinking related to the evaluation of claims, such as the use of the double-blind procedure and the law of parsimony. He then provides an evolutionary framework and empirical supporting evidence from cognitive psychology to explain why being inconsistent in the use of critical thinking is part of our evolutionary heritage. Each of us possesses cognitive biases that make us prone to maintaining our current beliefs (both true and false). He concludes by focusing on a wide range of claims-environmental, political, economic, multicultural-to illustrate how in certain contexts we all are tempted to abandon critical thinking.Thoroughly researched yet written in a lively, witty style, this unique approach to critical thinking will interest students, teachers, and anyone who wishes to become a better thinker.Todd C. Riniolo (Grand Island, NY) is an associate professor of psychology at Medaille College. He has written many peer-reviewed articles in the psychological literature.
Download or read book The Colonial Conan Doyle written by Catherine Wynne and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2002-07-30 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Arthur Conan Doyle is often perceived as the quintessential Englishman, patriotically devoted to the Crown and the empire's defender and apologist. But such a relegation is both limiting and simplistic. Born in Scotland to Irish Catholic parents, Doyle's heritage is complex. His paternal grandfather, John Doyle, had originally left Ireland for London in the early 19th century; his father was committed to the cause of Irish separatism; and his uncle resigned from his position as main cartoonist for ^IPunch^R after the journal launched an attack on the Pope. Consequently, British imperialism, Irish nationalism, and Catholic allegiance converge uneasily in his works. This book examines the resulting tensions between imperialism and colonialism in his writings. It argues that his thematic obsessions with topography, race, psyche, and sexuality stem from his ambivalence toward his own heritage. The volume repositions Doyle and redresses current critical approaches that have seen him solely as the advocate of empire and have ignored his colonial background. It explores how his fictions occur within a colonial context, the complexity of which is evident in gothic tropes of shifting landscapes, disguised criminalities, spiritualism, and sexual anomalies and conflicts.
Download or read book Unraveling Piltdown written by John Walsh and published by . This book was released on 1998-07-28 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology written by Kenneth L. Feder and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-10-11 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a fascinating, encyclopedic antidote for the mysticism and pseudoscience surrounding well-known or highly publicized archaeological and anthropological "discoveries." Archaeology attempts to answer the question "where do we come from?" in the broadest sense possible; as a result, it is a highly interesting topic for all mankind. When did human beings first walk the earth? How did civilization develop? What compelled our human ancestors to build things like the pyramids, the Great Sphinx, or Monk's Mound? This book presents the widely unknown scientific facts behind the most popular and enthralling "mysteries" of our world from an expert archaeological perspective—and lays out the information and research in a manner that is approachable, engaging, and entertaining for any reader. Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum contains detailed and highly descriptive definitions for—and explanations of—terms related to extraordinary claims about human antiquity and its study. Some of the terms in this extensive list of topics relate to archaeological hoaxes. Many of the entries relate to dubious interpretations of the human past; some of the terms relate to far-fetched arguments that actually have produced evidence in support of their veracity.
Download or read book Teilhard s Mass written by Thomas Mulvihill King and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essays by Teilhard de Chardin on the text of "the Mass of the World" from his work The Divine Milieu.
Download or read book Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions written by Frank L. Holt and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2003-11-24 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Annotation A rare set of coin medallions is used to analyze Alexander the Great's reputation for invinceability in war. The book's backbone is the history of the discovery and interpretation of these medallions, to which are added the extraordinary story of Alexander, and a brief introduction to the science of numismatics.
Download or read book Literature After Darwin written by V. Richter and published by Springer. This book was released on 2010-12-14 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What makes us human? Where is the limit between human and animal? These are questions that haunt post-Darwinian literature. Covering fiction from Kipling to Kafka, this study offers a historically embedded analysis of anthropological anxiety in the period between the publication of the Origin of Species and the beginning of the Second World War.
