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The Seven Daughters of Eve | 
| Author: Bryan Sykes
Publisher: Corgi Books
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 74784
Media: Paperback
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 0552152188
Dewey Decimal Number: 576
EAN: 9780552152181
ASIN: 0552152188
Publication Date: September 1, 2004
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Amazon.co.uk Review
In The Seven Daughters of Eve Bryan Sykes has produced a highly readable scientific autobiography depicting the major events in his career as a human geneticist. He was the first to extract DNA from the bones of the 5,000-year-old Iceman, and he solved the problem of the colonisation of Polynesia by tracing modern Polynesians' genetic ancestry. The high point of his work so far is the creation of a genetic map of Western Europe, showing that over 95% of native Europeans can trace their ancestry back to one of seven individual women. To trace this lineage Sykes and his team used mitochondria, tiny structures within each cell, which are passed on purely down the maternal line. Because they do not engage in recombination like chromosomes, mitochondria are easy to trace, changing only as a result of slow mutation. The mutation rate acts as a clock indicating how long different populations have been separated. The science is clearly explained and Sykes gives a good flavour of the life of a working scientist in a series of well-chosen anecdotes, all written in a warm, engaging style. The seven daughters themselves, whom he has named Ursula, Xenia, Helena, Velda, Tara, Katrine and Jasmine, are brought to life in rather whimsical little stories describing how their lives might have been before and during the last great Ice Age. All in all, this is an excellent piece of popular-science writing, unveiling a fascinating story about human inter-relatedness. It deserves to be widely read. --Elizabeth Sourbut
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 Giving Genetics a Geographic Face December 12, 2008
This book is by no means great literature, but I enjoyed the discussion about human migration and mtDNA because the presentation by Sykes gives historical genetics a geographic face. Indeed, this book encouraged me to follow my own genetic trail at the National Geographic Genographic Project.
7 daughters of eve September 14, 2008
This book is a mixture of science and fiction.The science is good and the fiction gives a reasonable possible account of the lives of the 7 daughters.
The main focus of the book is that only 7 women were the direct ancestors of 95% ofthe current population of Europe and those of European descent throughout the world as determined by mitochondrial which is passed only in the female line.
The booktraces the origins of 7 women and where the various groups dominate eg. Velda in Spain,Helena in France to Jasmine in the Middle East.
The science and the fiction are welded together to make a fascinating story although I would have liked more science.
 Popular science May 6, 2008
Which I don't mean perjoratively at all - quite the reverse. Any book that makes a scientific issue more accessible wins stars as far as I am concerned. This one is fascinating and well-written. It spans the millennia, and yet is human-scale, and as much about 'now' as 'then'. None of us would be here if we didn't carry the DNA of our forbears - we each of us are a part of history, and have our own unique role to play as well. What could be more heart-warming, and thrilling, than that awareness?
If only more scientists - and engineers,and all 'ologists'- would write so well and engagingly about their about their fields. And that the books be read by much wider audiences, so that more of us can be inspired by these kinds of stories, which have resonance for all of us. 25-50,000 years ago, 7 clan mothers can be claimed by 75% of today's Europeans - even if it wasn't precisely true, how effective it is is reminding us that we are all very closely related, in reality, and there are no nasty foreigners that are so easy to reject, and despise. They are an illusion, born of fear and supposed threat - and a very dangerous illusion too, giving rise to racism, genocides and wars.
Please read this book, and see whether you don't agree!
 Science Fiction December 26, 2007
2 out of 11 found this review helpful
I will say that this book is a mediocre science fiction book. I can see by the many reviews that people have fell for his "facts" hook, line, and sinker. Don't waste your time and money on this book. This book is yet another attempt of political correctness nonsense.
Well written and thought provoking in many ways May 22, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having been aware of this book for a few years, I finally bought a copy to take on a train journey. Needless to say I was very pleased for a number of reasons.
Like other reviewers the sheer elegance of the central idea of being (90% likely for Europeans) descended from one of seven women is compelling. the science is built up fairly simply (I did O level biology a long time ago!) and the way the theory of mitochondrial inheritance grows from the chance experiences of the team is a good read.
The writing style is also very accessible and did not turn me off from the book at all.
I had to pause and think hard in a couple of places, and would love the opportunity to understand some of the fine detail (why did the Eve's have two daughters each still gets me thinking).
I was also surprised by the insight into academia and the in-fighting that goes in which threatened to bury theory more than once. Although only told from one side, it came across as quite scary that the rightness of the idea was less important than the reputation of others in the scientific world. I am left wondering how much good science gets discarded by the challenge of surviving the peer review process and the personalities therein. On the other hand one could argue that anything that becomes accepted science has been well challenged and stands up to scrutiny so is better.
Anyway, if you ever wondered about where your mother's mother's mother's.....mother came from, read this book!
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