Seven Daughters Of Eve

by BRYAN SYKES

Hardcover, 2001

Status

Available

Call number

599.935

Genres

Collection

Books: Non-Fiction

Publication

BANTAM PRESS (2001), Hardcover, 356 pages

Description

Professor Bryan Sykes gives a firsthand account of his research into a gene which passes undiluted from generation to generation through the maternal line.

User reviews

LibraryThing member thornton37814

Having been written twelve years ago, Sykes' work on mitochondrial DNA remains a classic in the field of DNA studies for ancestry. There are parts, of course, that are dated at this point because of the progress made in the study of DNA, but some of the information is still very useful in studying

how we got to where we are and in the study of the basics in the field itself. Sykes assigned names to the European maternal haplogroups and fictionalized the stories of each of these "seven daughters of Eve." While I understand what the author was trying to do, I'm not sure that was the most effective means of giving life to the groups. The fictionalization seemed out of place in relation to the rest of the book. This work is a must read by anyone interested in genetic genealogy.

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LibraryThing member Devil_llama

A good introduction to the concept of mitochondrial Eve, and the women that became the founding mothers of Europeans. The author does a very good job of explaining his topic, so for all of those who incredulously greet the concept of the 7 mothers with, "Oh, yeah, like we can know that", my answer

will be to read this book. He explains it clearly and lucidly, without a lot of technical jargon, so it's possible to understand just how we traced the lineages backward. He has some interesting stories about identifying the bodies of the Tsar and his family from remains found decades after the revolution. The main weak points of the book are the way he shorthands certain topics, important topics, that lead to misleading information. For instance, his work states that Watson and Crick discovered that DNA was the substance of inheritance, but in fact, that was not the case; they merely discovered the structure of DNA (important enough, but let's not rewrite history). Especially annoying was when he gave James Watson the credit for thinking up and performing crystallography on DNA to look at the compound - even Watson doesn't claim that, giving the credit somewhat grudgingly to Rosalind Franklin. One other wholly annoying part of the book was when he constructed fictional histories for the 7 women, creating parents, husbands, and children for them out of whole cloth. There are ways to present this sort of information in an interesting way without resorting to such total fiction, totally out of place in a non-fiction work. It was also interesting that, with one exception, his women's histories all met the standards of acceptable moral behavior among modern, 21st century Europeans (and the one soon corrected her behavior, and began to lead a good Christian life, god rest her soul). This grated. Who's to say our ancestors were so good, so kind, and so intelligent? Is it not possible that at least one of them could have been a thief? A murderer? A prostitute? C'mon, give me a break! Other than that, a good, solid work that should be read widely by those who have preferred not to understand how we know the things we know.

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LibraryThing member vguy

The popularising science part is excellent, though already going out of date, I would guess. The fiction/speculation section is pretty thin and pointless. I'd rather read fiction; or intelligent speculation properly argued as in Mithen's Singing Neanderthals.

LibraryThing member pennykaplan

Very interesting subject. But I read a 2001 edition so it’s outdated. Interesting stories but too much imagination in the telling. Hard to tell the validity.

LibraryThing member BookAddict

I was impressed with this book as I am a science idiot and this book really explained human genetics in a clear and concise way without using dry scientific journal lingo.
Anyone wanting to trace their history through DNA should read this book. The depth and the limitations of the science are

clearly explained. There are helpful charts throughout for those who need a visual for clearer understanding.
The last part of the book focuses on seven women that those of European origin have decended from. Life stories of these women have been created from the known scientific information that exists about each of their geographic areas and times they lived.

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LibraryThing member cbl_tn

Bryan Sykes made several breakthroughs in the extraction of DNA from ancient remains and in the use of mitochondrial DNA to map human origins. While this book is no longer at the cutting edge of genetic research, it retains its value as historical documentation of genetic research. This book won't

add names to the branches of your family tree, but it will help you think about the ancient past and your connection to it. Of course, there are always exceptions. I learned that Sykes belongs to mitochondrial haplogroup T. I also belong to haplogroup T, which means that Sykes and I share a common maternal ancestor within the last 17,000 years.

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LibraryThing member RodMerrill

I found this to be a very informative book as it relates to maternal ancestry through mitochondrial DNA. The contents will be useful enough that I have ordered a hard copy to share with others.

LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV

Now *this* is how a science book is supposed to be written, imo. ?�Focus on the explanation of the actual science - of the theory, of the experiments & tests, of the conclusions. ?Ã¡Go into history & personalities only enough to clarify what information you're trying to share. ?Ã¡Write

conversationally, but without forced wit. ?Ã¡I only wish that 1. this were newer 2. there was more known about the mitochondrial history of the world beyond Europe known at the time this was written, and 3. there was included a list of books recommended for further reading. ?Ã¡Of course, one of the strengths of this book is that it was published at exactly the right moment, only months after the theory was fully integrated with data that was made available as criticisms of the original release (to academia) were answered. ?Ã¡So it's not the book's fault it's old; it's mine for not reading it sooner. ?Ã¡And even though it is old, it's still very much worth reading. ?Ã¡

Interestingly, I liked the first part of the book best. ?Ã¡The title doesn't become directly relevant until about 2/3 through, when the author describes what the lives of each of these seven women may have been like. ?Ã¡Too many suppositions needed to be made, even though, of course, paleoanthropologists have some pretty good ideas that Sykes did use. ?Ã¡Even there, though, were some interesting ideas. ?Ã¡For example, Jasmine's story includes an idea that may be relevant to understanding the Great Flood stories.

I particularly like the last chapter, A Sense of Self. ?Ã¡In that chapter Sykes makes it finally fully clear how race is a myth, and how mitochondrial lineages work. ?Ã¡His metaphor of the stage and the string is lovely. ?Ã¡If you want to see whether you want to read the book, at least read that chapter.

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LibraryThing member mrsdanaalbasha

"A traveler from an antique land... lives within us all," claims Sykes, a professor of genetics at Oxford. This unique traveler is mitochondrial DNA, and, as this provocative account illustrates, it can help scientists and archeologists piece together the history of the human race. Mitochondrial

DNA is present in every cell in the body, and it remains virtually unchanged (aside from random mutations) as it passes from mother to daughter. By quantifying and analyzing the mutations of this relatively stable circle of DNA, Sykes has solved some of the hottest debates about human origins. For example, he clarified a long-running debate among anthropologists over the original inhabitants of the Cook Islands. After retrieving mitochondrial DNA samples from the island natives, Sykes concluded that the natives emigrated from Asia, not America, as many Western anthropologists had contended. In a similar manner, Sykes analyzed samples from native Europeans to determine that modern humans are not at all related to Neanderthals. The book's most complex and controversial find that the ancient European hunter-gatherers predominated over the farmers and not vice versa leads Sykes to another stunning conclusion: by chance, nearly all modern Europeans are descendants of one of seven "clan mothers" who lived at different times during the Ice Age. Drawing upon archeological and climatic records, Sykes spins seven informative and gracefully imagined tales of how these "daughters of Eve" eked out a living on the frozen plains. (July 9)Forecast: Sykes is a bit of a celebrity geneticist, as he was involved in identifying the remains of the last Romanovs. This fame, plus his startling conclusions augmented by a five-city tour should generate publicity and sales among science, archeology and genealogy buffs.

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LibraryThing member mrsdanaalbasha

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LibraryThing member GTTexas

I found this an interesting and very informative as well as an entertaining book on a timely scientific subject. It cleared up for me just what mitochondrial DNA is as compared to DNA in general, and how it may be used to link a population to earlier groups. I highly recommend it.

LibraryThing member drpeff

interesting. Makes me want to send my dna in to see whose tribe I belong to.

LibraryThing member Phaedra

Having had my mDNA tested, I needed an easy to understand explanation. This book filled the bill. Understandable and light reading, I couldn't put it down.

LibraryThing member Bodagirl

On the whole, I liked this book. It was an interesting concept presented in easily understood terms if you were paying attention while reading. The one beef I had with it was the seven chapters where Sykes romantically describes the lives of the seven clan mothers. He gives then families and

explained how they lived and died. Now I'm sure there is quite a bit of archaeological proof to back up the kind of tools they used and some of the other details of their lives, but the section was so disjointed with the rest of the book that I found it very hard to switch from fact to fiction and then back again for the remaining two chapters of the book.

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LibraryThing member nocto

Declaring literary blogging bankruptcy as I'm now eight months behind on logging books read and I would like to get back into the swing of things without dropping further behind!

LibraryThing member milti

Genetic science and the history of our DNA in a few easy chapters. I enjoy Sykes' language and humour.

LibraryThing member gam3

The begging of this books is quite good. The author seems to have some bones to pick with other scientists and the books suffers from this. I found the sections that describe the lives of the 7 daughters to be quite weak as well, but I did learn a lot from this book and I am very glad that I read

it.

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LibraryThing member PhyllisHarrison

An amazing book that keeps your interest all the way through. Who says science can't be exciting?

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