The Seven Daughters of Eve

The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry

By: Bryan Sykes

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

One of the most dramatic stories of genetic discovery since James Watson's The Double Helix - a work whose scientific and cultural reverberations will be discussed for years to come.

In 1994 Professor Bryan Sykes, a leading world authority on DNA and human evolution, was called in to examine the frozen remains of a man trapped in glacial ice in northern Italy. News of both the Ice Man's discovery and his age, which was put at over 5,000 years, fascinated scientists and newspapers throughout the world. But what made Sykes's story particularly revelatory was his successful identification of a genetic descendant of the Ice Man, a woman living in Great Britain today. How was Sykes able to locate a living relative of a man who died thousands of years ago?

In The Seven Daughters of Eve, he gives us a firsthand account of his research into a remarkable gene, which passes undiluted from generation to generation through the maternal line. After plotting thousands of DNA sequences from all over the world, Sykes found that they clustered around a handful of distinct groups. Among Europeans and North American Caucasians, there are, in fact, only seven.

©2001 Bryan Skyes (P)2017 Tantor

Eurocentric

I should have realized by the title, but the seven daughters are European ancestors only. He gives lip service to other matrilineal lines but for the most part, very Eurocentric, which was disappointing to me.

Well written and well read

I listen to and read a lot of books aimed at lay people about genetics and human evolution, and frequently I feel like many authors are rehashing previously written material and aren't adding much that is new. So I cautiously started listening to this audio book hoping that it would be better than some of my other recent listens. I was pleasantly surprised both at the writing style, which was engaging and at the narration which was also well done. The book covers the discover and use of mitochondrial DNA to trace our maternal ancestry in a way that illuminates various aspects of human history. One thing I particularly enjoyed about this book was the author's writing style and use of story, he interweaves his personal story and personal stories of our 7 ancestral mothers to tell a more relate-able and emotional story than would have been told alone had he just stuck to the science - he added the human component to the story.

Fun read

I read this for research at school, but I liked it so much that I bought a copy for my own library. The narration was good, and the fictional stories of the seven daughters made the scientific information fun. loved it.

Excellent explanation of how the maternal DNA work

Loved it from start to finish
Have heard stories before on the maternal DNA but now I understand a lot better

Clear easy reading of complex subject

Bryan Sykes makes human evolution and the revelations of DNA easy to understand, and then imagines the lives of prehistoric humans, based on actual scientific discovery, with realistic detail. Just plain wonderful.

Brilliant!

Most interesting book I've ever listened to. I've been looking for this book for many years and i'm very glad I found this book from audible.

Captivating, Fascinating

Entirely fascinating work and an engrossing story. where did the time go?? On to buy more books by this uniquely gifted researcher and writer.

Narration does not do the subject justice.

I'd read this book in my early twenties and was enthralled. So I was thrilled to find it in audible, which made my disappointment so much worse. The narrator has a beautiful voice but always reads in the same sing-song, as though he isn't alwats conscious of what he's reading. Perhaps he was bored, but this us like a classroom reading and lost my attention frequently. So disappointing!

Ate you my mother?

loved the audible recording. allowed me to work through chores as I gained valuable information

An interesting glimpse

This audible book is a good fit for those interested in the DNA side of anthropology. It mixes modern technological finds with a quaint narrative for each character to give the listener a valuable glimpse into the time period each of the women lived in. Great find for the DNA/23 and Me curious.

Gene-ius

loved it. The most convincing story of us, The story of Eve for a scientific audience. Highly recommended and easy to listen to despite the subject matter. Thanks Brian.

Captivating

Very illuminating, clear and captivatingly told through stories. Previously I found it difficult to visualise how "mitochondrial Eve" and Y chromosomal Adam (last common male ancestor of all men) could have lived at different times. Now this makes more intuitive sense. Enjoyed the highs of new discovery Sykes shared. Some emotional rollercoasters - despair and triumph featured.

A fascinating story and very well explained

The author is a bit full of himself.
Science is almost always a team effort.
it would be better balanced if a few other people were given credit.

Otherwise an excellent and informative book.

loved this book! super interesting!

this book really goes in depth into the origin of humans and our prehistoric ancestry. My favorite part were chapters 16 to 22.