There are seven individual women, who lived between 10,000 years ago and 45,000 years ago between the Middle East and various areas of Europe, who are the direct ancestors of 95% of all European people alive today. Yes, exactly seven women. I am European, so I am likely the direct descendent of one of those seven individuals.The author Bryan Sykes is a professor of human genetics at the University of Oxford. He has done pioneering work in genetics, specializing in studying mitochondrial DNA. One of the striking attributes is that the mitochondrial DNA is not passed on by males, only by females. Therefore, my personal mitochondrial DNA can be studied and compared with that of other contemporaries. When Sykes did this, he discovered that all modern Europeans pretty much belonged to one of only seven “groups” or “clans” as he calls them. Studying mutation frequency and the base mitochondrial DNA, coupled with the anthropological record, he was able to determine that there were seven specific women that are the mothers of all Europeans.He then traced further back into our African roots and found one single woman, who lived about 150,000 years ago in Africa, who is the mother of all human beings alive today. He calls her fittingly Mitochondrial Eve.Sykes writes The Seven Daughters of Eve for the non-scientist, but he goes through great pains to describe his research, the steps he went through to come to his conclusions, and the various scientific hurdles he had to jump. The book reads like a detective story, and I had trouble putting it down. After he makes his scientific points, the muses about the lives of the seven women. How might they have lived, what were the conditions of their lives like, how did they spend their days?A number of negative reviews challenge details in Sykes' conclusions, and the way he builds his "case" in this book. I found his excursion into Polynesia very helpful, because he used the simpler scenarios there as a vehicle to introduce me (who is not a biologist or geneticist) to the subject. After the Polynesia story, I was ready for Europe.I also enjoyed reading his fictional musings about what the lives of the seven women may have been like very helpful. I haven't studied anthropology, and I felt like he was sort of holding my hand and showing me what he speculated. It gave me visuals to work with.The roots of our human existence, our history and our unique humanness became alive for me as I read this book. Many times I was caught in reveries, dreaming about the lives of my ancestors. I was overwhelmed by the immense time periods that have elapsed, and how very unlikely our human existence actually is. 45,000 years represents about 2,000 generations. I know my grandmother. That’s three generations. However, my grandmother’s DNA comes from one of the seven daughters of Eve, 2,000 generations ago.The book may not work for scientists. It's not a textbook. But I don't believe that's what he tried to write here. I wanted to popularize the subject of mitochondrial DNA to laymen, like me. And that's exactly what he did.The Seven Daughters of Eve inspired me on many levels and has enriched my life. I will never think about humanity the same way again.