Next on NOVA: "The Boldest Hoax"

http://www.pbs.org/nova/hoax

Broadcast: May 30, 2006

(NOVA airs Tuesdays on PBS at 8 p.m. Check your local listings as
dates and times may vary.)

For decades, a partial fossil skull discovered in Piltdown, England,
was hailed as the missing link between apes and humans. Entire
careers were built on its authenticity. Then in 1953, the awful
truth came out: "Piltdown Man" was a fake! But who done it? In "The
Boldest Hoax," NOVA gets to the bottom of the greatest scientific
hoodwinking of all time. The search for clues takes the NOVA team to
the archives of Britain's august Natural History Museum in London,
where intriguing documents shed new light on the notorious case.
Offering theories on the deception are two prominent paleontologists
at the museum, Chris Stringer and Andy Currant. Also sleuthing for
NOVA are archeologist Miles Russell of Britain's Bournemouth
University, historian Richard Milner of the American Museum of
Natural History in New York, and Giles Oakley, son of Kenneth
Oakley, the scientist who blew the whistle on the hoax in 1953. Can
NOVA and this team of experts unravel the enduring mystery of
"Piltdown Man?"

The companion Web site to "The Boldest Hoax" includes the T.V.
program description, Links & Books, a Teacher's Guide, the program
transcript, and the program credits. Additional Web content is
not available.

For a downloadable audio story on Piltdown Man, visit us online
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http://www.pbs.org/nova/hoax