Charnia Masoni: A Fossil Discovery That Proves The Importance Of The Social Aspect Of Knowledge
In 1957 the discovery of a fossil changed our understanding of life history. A teenage boy, Roger Mason, found in Charnwood Forest, in England, the fossil of a fern-like creature. Upon scientific analysis, it was proven that the fossil belonged to the Precambrian period. The astonishment was that up to the date it was held among scientists that before the so-called Cambrian explosion there was no life on earth. The discovery of this creature, Charnia Masoni, rewrote our understanding of life.
Roger Mason and Charnia Masoni
After the young Roger Mason found the fossil, the story goes that he told about it to his father who was a church minister and a professor at the University of Leicester. In this university his father had a friend, Trevor Ford, who was a geologist.
This friend went to the site where R. Mason had found the fossil and extracted it. Sometime later, he published a scientific paper where it was explained that, without any doubt, the fossil belonged to a Precambrian creature. He decided to name the new organism after the place where it was discovered and the person who found it.
Tina Negus and Charnia Masoni
Some years later, around 1961, a zoologist, Tina Negus, finds about this incredible discovery in a museum in London. She was fascinated to see that there were some fossil records corresponding to the Precambrian period.
Her astonishment was not only because of the unexpected earlier records of life but also because, in fact, she herself had discovered this same fossil one year earlier before Roger Mason found it.
Tina Negus’ Find and Denial of Evidence
Unlike the young Mason, as a teenage girl, she did not have the social connections and support that would have led her to be officially recognized as the discoverer of this breakthrough in paleontology.
In 1956, when she mentioned to her geography teacher that she believed having found a Precambrian fossil, she was told that either what she found was not a fossil or the fossil belonged to a different period, but that, in any event, it was impossible that there could be a fossil of the Precambrian period.
Confused and puzzled because she had some knowledge about rock formations and she was sure that the fossil was Precambrian, she came to confirm her supposition many years later upon learning about the discovery of Roger Mason.
Recognition to Tina Negus
Fortunately, she decided to contact Roger Mason by email and after providing some details about her discovery of the same fossil the young Mason stumbled upon, she was given some recognition in the discovery of the fossil.
As we can see, in the end, both Roger Mason and Tina Negus were granted some recognition for the discovery of Charnia Masoni, but, in a certain official manner, it seems honest to admit that R. Mason received more credits for it. After all, part of the creature’s name was given after him.
Discovery and Social Support
Given this situation, we can certainly not blame Roger Mason for what happened to Tina Negus. He did not know at all that she discovered the fossil before him. And, in fact, in the history of science, there are many other cases that are similar to this. Someone is recognized as the first discoverer of something, although someone else already made that same discovery.
Certainly, this kind of situation can be deemed as somewhat problematic, but, putting that aside, this story suitably exemplifies the point that knowledge has, inherently, a social aspect.
Who knows what could have possibly happened if Tina Negus had also had a father that taught in a university and had friends that could help her find out whether what she found was in fact a Precambrian fossil or not. We will never know for sure, but one thing is certain. Had T- Negus had a supportive community that would believe in what she thought and said, she would have had more probabilities of getting her discovery socially recognized. In the case of Roger Mason, this is exactly what he had. There was a community — to be more specifics, his father and his father's social connections — that supported his thoughts.
Learning from the Story
So, what can we learn from this story?
If someone affirms that there is evidence that contradicts some well-established ideas, we should be willing to check it out. That is, although it might sound counterintuitive, we should at least offer the benefit of the doubt to the person that is providing the possible disruptive evidence. If after properly analyzing the evidence, we find out that the person is wrong, we would have helped out that person from maintaining a false belief, and, on the other hand, if her evidence turns out to be right, we would have helped to improve the knowledge about the world.
So, in both scenarios, it is always better to be open to new ideas, even if they challenge our most entrenched presuppositions about how things work.
And let us not forget celebrating both Tina Negus and Roger Mason for having provided the world with such an amazing discovery!
