I don’t often read about science, but the field of human evolution fascinates me. I find it almost impossible to imagine the sheer expanse of time that has passed between the development of the first modern humans and the present day. It makes my head hurt. Things that seem so important in everyday life suddenly dwindle into nothingness when confronted with the epic story of humanity. But, if you turn the question on its head, you realise that humans really haven’t been around that long at all compared to other species with much longer innings – the dinosaurs, obviously, but even our extinct cousins the Neanderthals. Keep thinking, though, because the really staggering thought is actually the most obvious. Every single one of us alive today has direct ancestors who learned to make fire, who hunted mammoths, who made flint knives. It wasn’t just our general species that descended from these people. You did. I did. If there was a way to trace your family tree back far enough, through the Ice Age and beyond, into a world that looked completely different to the one we know today – if that was possible, you could find out who your ancestors were. Well, it is possible. Bryan Sykes and his fellow geneticists have done it. And this is the story of their work...

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2019/12/14/the-seven-daughters-of-eve-brian-sykes/ ( )

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 But I read a 2001 edition so it’s outdated.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. ( )

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

Now *this* is how a science book is supposed to be written, imo. ?áFocus on the explanation of the actual science - of the theory, of the experiments & tests, of the conclusions. ?áGo into history & personalities only enough to clarify what information you're trying to share. ?áWrite conversationally, but without forced wit. ?áI 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. ?áOf 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. ?áSo it's not the book's fault it's old; it's mine for not reading it sooner. ?áAnd even though it is old, it's still very much worth reading. ?á

Interestingly, I liked the first part of the book best. ?áThe 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. ?áToo many suppositions needed to be made, even though, of course, paleoanthropologists have some pretty good ideas that Sykes did use. ?áEven there, though, were some interesting ideas. ?áFor 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. ?áIn that chapter Sykes makes it finally fully clear how race is a myth, and how mitochondrial lineages work. ?áHis metaphor of the stage and the string is lovely. ?áIf you want to see whether you want to read the book, at least read that chapter. ( )

"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. ( )