In these books it is clear that both Tattersall and the scientific community accept Java Man as Homo erectus. I did not use competent in this sense. I did not even mention the femur, let alone claim it belonged to the skullcap. So was I when I said every competent scientist considers it to be Homo erectus. This is a piece of semantic gymnastics.
Homo means man.
By this definition, all scientists agree that H. erectus and habilis are non-human. I don't think any other scientist ever seriously believed Leakey's claim that Zinj was a human ancestor, and it disappeared quickly. In other cases, like H. erectus, H. habilis, A. africanus and A. afarensis, the current thinking is very close to the claims that were originally made for them. I do not claim that any Homo fossils are apes, or that any Australopithecus fossils are human. That would be to fall into the trap of assuming a priori that every fossil is either ape or human, and that it is only necessary to decide which category is most appropriate.