Some old bones discovered in the little town of Sequim, Washington provided an interesting glimpse into the world of science last year. The bones were discovered in 1977, and ever since then archaeologist Carl Gustafson has insisted that the bones proved that humans were in North America eight hundred years earlier than other scientists thought. In 2011 modern research methods proved that Gustafson was right.
The interesting thing about this story is that Gustafson spent thirty-odd years promoting a theory that virtually no one else believed. Other scientists ignored him, some even laughed at him; but, because politics was not involved, no one attempted to punish Gustafson for heresy. No one tried to get him fired, or publicly insulted him.
