The Seven Daughters of Eve

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

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.

4 people found this helpful

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

3 people found this helpful

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.

2 people found this helpful

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.

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.

Hours of data, minutes of story.

My title sums it up. Interesting, but as something to listen to on a commute, it gets a little tedious as Dr. Sykes explains how he dissolved his method of DNA analysis, leading up to the stories of the 7 daughters of Eve. The stories themselves are very enjoyable, and the info is interesting, it’s just so unlistenable on a long drive.

Really informative and interesting

Fascinating. Loved the behind the scenes about the research process and explanation of the DNA and what it means for understanding human evolution. Perfect narration!

DNA ON HUMAN HISTORY

Like it, rediscovering our past with the help of DNA. Narrator was not as good as the book.

a fascinating and engaging look into genetics

a fascinating and engaging look into not just what is known of ancestral genetics but also into how it is known. engaging to a layman such as myself at every turn.

Very Interesting

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, especially if you are interested on where humans came from. I have wanted to read this book for years but did not make the time until I did 23andMe. I wanted to learn more about maternal haplogroups. I recently started utilizing audible books so I can multi-task (clean, drive, etc). I found this to be easy to listen to and I do not drift off like I have with other books.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Too much information. It is better to listen in multiple sittings.

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.

1 person found this helpful