What do You think about The Seven Daughters Of Eve: The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry (2001)?
This was a really fascinating read. I knew only a very little bit about genetics and ancient human history going in, but Sykes writes in a way that feels entry-level understandable AND useful. In other words, I didn't feel like I was being talked down to but I did feel like I understood all of the important mechanisms described in the book. This is much easier said than done, I'm sure.The book is about the way a particular kind of DNA is used to trace the maternal lineage of people over the course of many thousands of years. Incredibly, this enables us to approximate seven women in ancient history whose descendants make up every single modern human of European descent. In so doing, we can understand with some measure of accuracy where each of our ancestors lived, what groups they may have belonged to, the path humanity took as it traveled out of Africa and populated the world, etc. Besides being an actual ground-breaking scientist, Sykes has a real talent for storytelling. For much of the book it's the sort of story he might tell over drinks to his friends, about a funny thing that happened between himself and a professional rival, about an exciting new discovery a peer made, about the modern implications of his work. He draws connections that are genuinely thrilling: what it means to have a scientific ancestry that depends entirely on women, not the manual ones drawn up by and for men. A history that cannot be erased by oppressors and those who would destroy someone's culture. He is able to put across the excitement he surely must have felt first-hand while making these connections and discoveries.
—Andrew
Although this book was written in 2001, it is still a useful introduction to the study of human genetic ancestry for the layperson like me. Sykes is unique for having been at the forefront of major discoveries in genetics, such as sequencing the Iceman (Otzi)'s genome and finding modern descendants, helping to identify the bodies of most of the members of the massacred Russian royal family, and tracing 95% of Europeans' female ancestors to just seven women who lived between 45,000 and 10,000 years ago. Sykes' writing style is engaging, especially considering his background as a scientific researcher. I would wonder if it was ghost-written, except for his background in journalism. Most of the book is not about the "Seven Daughters of Eve"; however, the background information is just as interesting. It takes a good portion of the book to build up to the fictionalized vignettes of these women at the end. Although the stories seem contrived, they do humanize these women and offer insight into the everyday challenges for people in prehistoric Europe, especially during the last ice ages. I wonder if one of my mitochondrial ancestors was one of these women. There's a 95% chance that this is the case.
—Nate
A popularly written account, by the main researcher, of the genetic studies into the mitochondrial DNA of most Europeans, which identified 95% of all modern Europeans as the descendents of one of seven women, six of whom lived in the Old Stone Age and one of whom lived later in the Near East. These are the 'Seven Daughters" of the title, and the book gives imaginary reconstructions of their lives during the Ice Age. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down along the maternal line, and does not recombine or split up between the mother's and faather's contributions, so it is much easier to track than nuclear DNA. The information here was fascinating; in addition to the European data, he also discusses the origins of the Polynesians (two groups, one from Taiwan via the Moluccas and one from New Guinea) and the native Americans (99% in four groups from Siberia, 1% in a group originating in the Near East -- unfortunately for the Mormons, a few tens of thousands of years too early to be the "Lamanites" of the Book of Mormon)
—James F
