Inquiry saves a man from mistakes. He who makes no inquiry, gets himself into trouble. (Yoruba)
The “Zinj” is a fossil found in Tanzania in 1959. The discovery of this cranium proved (to those who wanted to believe it) that human life began in Africa over three million years ago.
Foot prints preserved in volcanic ash, found in 1978. showed that the first human beings stood upright in Africa almost four million years ago. These were footprints of what seemed to be a man, woman, and child.
Until a few days ago, I gave Louis Leakey all the credit for finding these artifacts. Then I found out that Mary Leakey was the person who found the “Zinj” and later discovered the oldest human being in Oldupai(Olduvai) gorge in Tanzania.
Mary never earned a science degree, but she was arguably the better and the more dedicated scientist than her husband. He was the more charismatic, sometimes reckless in his claims. On the other hand, Mary required rigorous scientific proof before coming to a conclusion.
No comments:
Post a Comment