Resumo de The Seven Daughters Of Eve

Perhaps you have heard how each of us can trace our origins back to one of seven women? I had and was fascinated to know more, who were these women, where and when did they live, did they know each other...?? Well, this is the book that answers all of those questions and is written by the scientist who discovered this amazing fact.

It is a well laid out book documenting Professor Sykes' discovery; a book on the history of the human race, Homo sapiens. By discovering an ability to read genetic informatiom in ancient bones, Prof. Sykes is lead on a journey that unites the modern human to its ancestors, alive hundreds of thousands years ago. The main thrust of the work and the story is a tiny molecule which we all have, DNA. Previous human evolution stories were developed through the study of fossils and skulls, tradional archaelogical tools. Here, DNA the genetic material that is handed down from generation to generation is the new tool for unlocking the past.

He invites us to join him at the cutting edge of scientific research. Previous knowledge of genetics is not required as he has a natural teacher's ability to get the basics across, indeed you feel well able to keep up. The information builds up as he combines that knowledge with historical discoveries and so easily leads us to his laboratory. This is where we learn how genetics information is used today. The science is kept alive by peppering it with human interest stories, e.g., the Russian Royal family to highlight the use of genetics in identity claims, the migrations of the early Polynesians mapped by the genes they carry.

The format of this book is almost like 'a day in the life of a scientist' and so we are introduced to all the smaller discoveries that lead to the big headline discovery. The unfolding of the ideas, the tests, the picking up and incorporating of new ideas is very enjoyable but none more entertaining than the egos of scientists as they battle their wits in the pages of journals.

At all times this is a book about the human race, alive now and long dead. From the off, we become accostumed to H. sapiens, the dates when they appeared, how they relate to other human forms. But it is the relation of us to them that is the big message of this book and none done so well as finding that a teacher from the west country is a direct descendant of a paleolithic hunter, 'Cheddar Man', alive 9,000 years ago. These bones, these clusters of genes identified thorough living people were once walking the land we walk. That is big news indeed.

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