Book Review: "Seven Daughters of Eve" by Bryan Sykes

 

Over the extended quiet time of the current pandemic, I had a chance to read an excellent book entitled “The Seven Daughters of Eve” by Bryan Sykes, a professor of genetics at Oxford University in London.

This was a National Bestseller in 2001 (ISBN 0-393-02018-5), published by Norton & Company.  A great read for genealogists, including:

1. How they determined the DNA of the famous Iceman and found a living relative
2. Discussion of DNA (what the initials actually mean) and the special characteristics of Mitochondrial DNA – very slow evolution (or mutation) and passed down only from mother to daughter
3. DNA determination of the bones of the Russian Tsar and his family murdered in the 1917 Russian Revolution 
4. Ocean voyagers and how humanity spread across the Pacific
5. Early Europeans
6. Demise of the Neanderthals
7. Shifting from a hunting culture to farming
8. The seven daughters who, as clan mothers, bequeathed us the nations of Europe - with a short, fictional description of their lives and environments.

A fun romp through history and the evolution of genetic testing.  Sykes makes it all readily understandable and interesting.  Track this book down for sure.  You will enjoy it.

 

 

 

Ron Gilmore

Last Updated: March 2022