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The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry

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Author : Bryan Sykes
Binding : Hardcover
EAN : 9780393020182
Edition : American
ISBN : 0393020185
Label : W. W. Norton & Company
Manufacturer : W. W. Norton & Company
Number of pages : 320
Publication date : 2001-07-09
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Title : The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Studio : W. W. Norton & Company

Editorial reviews

Product Description
As Provocative as Stephen Jay Gould's The Mismeanure of Man and as controversial as E. O. Wilson's Sociobiology, The Seven Daughters of Eve offers a fascinating history of the world as revealed through genetics. After years of research that resulted in headlines across the world, Bryan Sykes, an Oxford University geneticist, now lays the foundation for an entirely new branch of the study of DNA. After being summoned in 1997 to an archaeological site in Italy to examine the remains of a five-thousand-year-old man, Sykes ultimately was able to prove not only that the man was a European but also that he has relatives living in England today. Sykes found a particular strand of DNA that passes unbroken through the maternal line, allowing us to trace our genetic make-up back to prehistoric times to seven primeval women, or the "seven daughters of Eve". This book is popular science at its best, and its scientific and cultural reverberations will be discussed for years to come.

Customer reviews

review by: webwonderer date: 2008-10-18 rating:

DNA Diva
I have worked at Genelex DNA Testing lab for 8 years and recommend this book to anyone with an interest in genealogy and DNA testing. It is a quick, fun read that illustrates what you can learn about your past from a simple DNA test.

review by: date: 2008-09-15 rating:

Genetics, human migration and archeaological findings
Mr. Skyes narrates his lifetime investigations and his team's discoveries in genetics and merges them with his knowledge of history, archaeological findings (like pottery style and design) and human migrations. This part I found very interesting, although I know there are diverging opinions regarding the two main migrations that are described; in each of the two cases this book is an excellent account of one side of the debate. Mr. Skyes writes with such passion about his point of view and the wrongness of the other scientists, that it makes the story far more interesting and I am definitely compelled to read the other side of it.

The book explains in an easy to read and understandable way the basics of DNA markers and how we can trace our female ancestors through mitochondrial DNA. By means of analyzing the mutations in mitochondrial DNA, scientists can estimate the approximate time and place when the human race appeared on earth and how they expanded from Africa to Asia and Europe. The concept of the seven daughters of Eve, of which the European women descend is also quite interesting, since it does not mean that all women of their tribe had the same DNA (there could have been others), but this seven woman were the only ones to have descendants until our time.

The first part of this book is one of the best books I have read. The author writes as if it were a novel and succeeds to transmit his passion for the subject. The book may oversimplify things a bit and some conclusions might have been taken too far, but in any case it is an interesting and thought provoking reading. Now I will try to find something about Adam...

The second part of the book seems as if the author did not find enough material to complete it, so he introduced short narratives about the life in "clans" of the 7 daughters of Eve. Mr. Skyes should have asked Jean M. Auel to co-author the second part of the book, then if the stories were not to add value to the scientific part of the book, at least they would have been more entertaining. In the end, it doesn't matter, the first part is well worth the reading, just skip the rest.

review by: date: 2008-05-28 rating:

Who is Your Mommy?
I read this book because I had read about National Geographic's Genome Project including the book by the Project Director Spencer Wells. I wanted to learn more on the subject and get other points of view.

The first part of Sykes' book is the most interesting because he summarizes the major advances especially on the maternal side better than Wells without being too technical. The other book was shorter but more technical. Sykes really writes an informative book that takes us step by step through the advances in genetics following the mother's mitochondrial DNA in a kind of "gee whiz" manner about the dicoveries. I accepted that enthusiasm because he does tell you at the beginning that he is a scientist, but his writing is understandable. He elaborates on the scientific debates as a way to communicate the shadings of judgement that go into advancing this frontier of science. The application of genetics to ancestry is fascinating stuff to me..a non scientist. It is...within a short period of time...opening a new door and accelerating the study of Mankind and the evolution of our species. You also get a picture of past Ice Ages and a discussion of "What Happened to the Neanderthals."

In the second part of the book, Sykes speculates on the day to day lives of the seven daughters. After reading the first of these I skipped to the last 2 chapters, then closed the book. I am glad I read the chapters I did.

review by: date: 2008-05-22 rating:

Eve
This book is great for the average person. What a way to explain our DNA & what was impressive to me was how he came about narrowing down our ancestors & particularly how we all are related back to Eve's children! I would love to know which one is my ancestral Mom! Mother's are special, and he makes us realize it more!

review by: date: 2008-04-27 rating:

Fascinating on many levels
Bryan Sykes has an exceptionally clear and engaging writing style and he has lot of interesting material to share. I found this book very interesting on multiple levels:

a. Exceptionally interesting DNA case studies of the Hamsters, the last Russian Czars, the Polynesians and Europians in particular as well as other ones comparing Homo Sapiens (us) with the Neanderthals. As an aside - the history fo the hamsters described is very interesting - did you know that these are originally from Syria and that all the millions of pet hamsters living today are the direct descendants of a single feamle hamster that lived in 1930! This whole interesting story is one among many described in this interesting book.

b. Very good perspective from a top scientist - the incredible rigor involved, the difficult questions to address and how solutions were slowly developed by his team, the competition, the challenges from the establishment and others alike, the emotions involved.....

c. Exceptionally clear explanations of the actual genetics involved - very clear and concise descriptions of concepts that are all too often glossed over in many other books written for the general reader

d. The actual recreations of the 7 Eves - an approach that several reviewers have objected to, however, i found those chapters insightful as well

Some reviewers have taken exception to the "self-centered approach" but in my view that is part and parcel of describing several ground-breaking and cutting-edge studies in the first person.

Overall, a very interesting book and one that has got me thinking of getting my own DNA analyzed as well. I expect to read other books from Bryan Sykes as well. Can't recommend it strongly enough.

-Sudip Chahal

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