About this title: Offering a fascinating history of the world as revealed through genetics, a momentous scientific discovery reveals how all humans are descended from seven prehistoric women.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: American ed.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780393020182ISBN:0393020185
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Hardcover Edition-Average Wear-Few Markings. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 320 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Very good. Just has gift inscription written on flyleaf, small crease on front cover-pages clean thru-out, no marks-tight binding-no dog ears-minor shelf wear-excellent reading copy-We ship out fast daily w/FREE tracking on this item-(Gotta have it fast? ) Expediated shipping is available on this item (Personalized Service~Always Bubble Envelope~ Expediated moves you to front of the line) read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc, Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780393020182ISBN:0393020185
Description: Good in Good jacket. 8vo. Hardcover. Sound, clean & nice copy, light edgewear. Jacket is nice, has some chipping at corners, rubbing/edgewear, still okay overall, not price clipped. read more
Description: Fine. 0393323145 NEW/UNREAD! ! ! Text is Clean and Unmarked! --Be Sure to Compare Seller Feedback and Ratings before Purchasing--Has a small black line on bottom/exterior edge of pages. May have light shelf wear to cover from storage, if any. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 2001-07-09
ISBN-13:9780393020182ISBN:0393020185
Description: Good. Light edge and corner wear to dust jacket. Creases to dust jacket. Dust jacket is in good condition. Light edge and corner wear to book. Remainder mark. Pages still clean and tight. Book is in in good condition. All U.S. orders shipped with tracking numbers and e-mail confirmation. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co
Date Published: 2001-07-09
ISBN-13:9780393020182ISBN:0393020185
Description: Very Good. HARDCOVER. Very Good Condition. Binding tight, pages clean. Lightly blunted at head and tail of spine. Dust Jacket wrinkled at periphery. Nice copy! read more
Edition: First edition. American ed.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780393020182ISBN:0393020185
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. Immaculate boards & text with no writing, marking or names. D/J near perfect with the slightest of shelfwear. A lovely book that appears unread & could be given as a gift. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 320 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. Red & Oatmeal boards with gilt title on spine. Map end papers illustrated with animals. Stated First American Edition. Brian Sykes, a leading authority on genetics and human evolution was called in to examine ... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co
Date Published: 2001-07-09
ISBN-13:9780393020182ISBN:0393020185
Description: Very Good. Clean, unmarked pages. Gift inscription on first page, as new besides. Good binding and cover. Hardcover and dust jacket. Ships daily. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company: New York, NY
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780393020182ISBN:0393020185
Description: VG/VG. ISBN: 0393020185 Hardcover, paper over boards with reinforced backstrip, gilt lettering on spine, 306 pages. Clean, square, unmarked copy. Dust jacket protected in new mylar wrap. Slight shelf wear. read more
"Science meets fiction. The first three quarters of this book deals with DNA and mitochondrial DNA. The two chapters I liked best were chapter 5 entilted the (Tsar and I) and chapter 6 (The Puzzle of the Pacific). The fictional stories he writes for each of the seven daughters are something else, in a way I was a little dissappointed. I'm not sure what I expected, but this was a good book anyway."
"The first three quarters of this book were packed full of genetics, human biology, anthropology, and even a little archeology and geography. If you ask me (and I guess you are), that is way too much scientific -ology. Unless you really like that stuff. I've heard there are people that do. Anyway, I liked the book because I appreciated the authors humor and I found the whole idea of tracing our genealogy back so far extremely interesting. I especially liked his analogy of all of his ancestors holding onto a thread. I did have a couple problems - first, was the time line. I have been informed that there is no way that even Adam and Eve lived as long ago as Bryan Sykes is saying these people were living, so that throws a big wrench in this for me. I am very uncomfortable with science and the the bible not meshing. I can't help but think we must be missing something and that if we would just do it right science would support the bible. But people, he has DNA! However, despite the DNA for the record and for all heaven to hear - I will take the side of the Bible. Big can of worms though. Very big. I will just pretend in my own little dillusional world that all of his science is correct but the timing is wrong and my Grandma is a direct maternal descendent of Tara, darn it! (Ooops! Can we say the d word on this site?) My second problem was with the last quarter of the book where Bryan introduced us to his own dillusional world. It was very odd and a bit disconcerting to go from all of that scientfic jargon to fiction. It didn't even really seem like fiction. It was kind of weird. I think that the idea behind it was interesting and would have been useful if he had described what we know to be true about those times through all the stupid -ologies in a different way and left what he imagined out. Although, I did get a kick out of him describing Tara as a woman with straight brown hair and blue eyes that loved the ocean. I could be Tara reincarnated! Just kidding. That would be another can of worms."
"This book was surprisingly moving. The largest portion of the book is dedicated to presenting genetic science in a language that a simple laywoman such as myself can understand. I am still blown away that human beings have figured so much of this stuff out. But then Sykes goes on to imagine the lives of the seven women from whom most (>95%) of modern Europe's inhabitants are descended. The surprisingly moving part of the book came as Sykes discusses the change of humans from a nomadic hunter-gatherer society, to an established farming and animal-domestication one. When we read most history books, there is generally one date given for when changes like these occur, but Sykes presents us with a much more human theory - individual choice and learning. This wasn't one mass change, but over time individuals experimented, with failures and successes, and learned, and made preferences. There was no omniscient voice booming down from the skies saying, "Okay, folks, uhhhh, it's about 15,000 BC, so it's time to start domesticating animals!" These were very real people who made very real choices, which have led to who and where we are today. The connection is real!
Sykes also proposes the use of a matrilineal surname along with our "normal" patrilineal surname. I love this! I'm seriously thinking about finding the oldest maiden name in my maternal lineage and adding that as an additional surname. I know that it is still going to be a patrilineal name somewhere back there, but there is still that sense of connection to the women who came before me. I want to be able to pass that down to my potential daughters and sons. Gasp."
"The first half of Sykes' book is an incredibly thorough yet still accessible history of the use of mitochondrial DNA in tracking maternal genetic heritage. It's a nice companion to Spencer Wells' The Journey Of Man, though I read that one ages and ages ago, and can't offer any serious comparison of methodology or anything. All I can say is it was understandable but not too easy, and I actually felt like I was learning something about the process, even though I've read up on this sort of genetic investigation before.
The second half of this book is a fanciful look at the seven "clan mothers" as Sykes calls them, and their possible lives; this is where things get silly. Serious Scientists will obviously have deep objections to Sykes' use of fiction to sell his point, and also that he's cashing in on this interest with a nice expensive genome tracking project (again, Spencer Wells has done the same, but with National Geographic instead of Oxford). Serious Scientists also, no doubt, are all riled up about Sykes very individualistic narrative of discovery, and of course he wasn't working on this stuff alone. But science is a nasty antagonistic business with rival cliques, and none of this came as a surprise to me. Author bias is bound to get into the narrative.
The main point of Sykes' book, though, is that it is not for the Serious Scientist. It's for the everyman (or woman, in this case) who wishes to find a personal ancestral connection to human prehistory. And in that respect, the book succeeds beautifully. I was engaged from the first page. While the life stories of the seven Daughters got a little over the top after a while, on the whole the book is a great way of getting people interested in the picture genetic heritage paints of the world."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
