>
>GREENWICH "LIBRARIES PROJECT"
>for the  NEANDERTHAL FLUTE ESSAY
>
>APPEAL FOR HELP FROM READERS, VISITERS
>A number of facts have come to our attention:
>

To MUSEUM-L subscribers:  I'd like to see some discussion and more
information on this item.  If I remember right there was a
Neanderthal-flute piece in the April issue of _Discover_. I took this to
be an April Fool's joke by the _Discover_ editorial staff, as they have
taken to including _National Enquirer_ type spoofs in the past several
April issues.

Bob Fink in his message implies that there really was a Neanderthal
flute but that that information cannot be disseminated through the
reviewed literature.  Mr. Fink should offer greater substantiation
before asking us to subsidize the publication and distribution of this
information.

However, there is another issue: Should academic magazines like
_Discover_ be publishing false reports as April Fool's jokes.  This
series of messages shows that such false reports might easily take on a
life of their own; one has to wonder if the Roswell Incident might have
started this way.

Several years ago, _Discover_ published an April item on a recently
discovered rodent that lived in Antarctic glaciers.  I then had two
grade/high school students who came to me seeking more information for
their term papers on the subject.  They did not recognize that the
report was a joke - nor did I initially.  I would not blame them if they
were forever afterwards to be cynical about science and scientists.
Certainly humor has a place in science, but the publication by a
previously reputable magazine of an intentionally false report is not
funny.

It is possible that I am not being correct or fair, and that there
really is a Neanderthal flute, though my guess is that this has
developed from the _Discover_ "spoof".  Would others please weigh in
with what you might know or think.  Does anybody know a member of the
_Discover_ staff who might wish to reply, or know of other cases where
academic jokes have created unfortunate problems (and, please, no
mention of Piltdown Man).  I'll bet that this is a fertile field for
study; any graduate students out there looking for a topic?
Kevin McCartney, Ph.D.
Associate Prof., Geology
Director, Northern Maine Museum
  of Science
University of Maine at Presque Isle
Presque Isle, ME  04769  (207) 768-9482