Author Description

In one of the most spectacular cases of scientific fraud ever, ancient human skull fragments found in 1912 near the English town of Piltdown were proven a deliberate hoax 40 years later. However the identity of the perpetrator has remained a mystery. The recently published book The Piltdown Forgery (Oxford 1990) reopens the case with a detailed examination of the evidence and a fresh attempt to name the hoaxer. This companion volume gathers together for the first time the relevant historical documents, presenting a selection of some 500 letters and other papers covering the period. The material has been drawn largely from the archives of the British Museum (Natural History). The resulting fully annotated catalog provides a unique resource for those interested in the history of science as well as the basis for a reassessment of the Piltdown episode.