[PatrickHenry]

By the way, contrary to the constant claim of the creationists, Piltdown Man wasn't a fraud created by biologists to prop up the theory of evolution. It was a bogus fossil planted by a crank, who apparently wanted to place his fake "missing link" in England. Genuine evolutionists realized that such a fossil didn't make any sense in the context of all their other evidence. Eventually the hoax was exposed -- by evolutionists. The Piltdown episode, rather than being an embarrassment, actually demonstrates how powerful evolution theory is. It predicts what kind of evidence will be found to exist, and it exposes bogus "evidence."

In reality, Piltdown man was a fraud committed on evolutionists, but not by evolutionists. In a way, it reminds me of the fake and out-of-context quotes that creationists frequently produce.

[VadeRetro]

Exactly. Piltdown was evidence for the "Out of England" theory of human origins, a very jarring data point. Evolution tells you plenty about what to expect and not to expect.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Piltdown Man was already being criticized by December 1912 for not conforming to evolutionary theory. Creationists, by their rejection of evolutionary theory, cannot use this as an argument for the falsity of Piltdown. Later, radiocarbon dating was used to show that the parts of Piltdown were of differing ages. Creationists, bu their rejectio of radiocarbon dating, cannot use this as an argument for the falsity of Piltdown. In fact, creationists did nothing to expose the Piltdown fraud; this was done through evolutionary theory and through radiocarbon dating.