Thanks for sending this! I was just complaining to my hubby last night that I'm disgusted by the fact that once upon a time I could at any given moment name all my ancestors that I was researching and give all sorts of facts about them but that now I can't even remember all of the surnames that I'm researching without keeping a master index handy.This certainly makes me feel better about that, because I've got several of my lines back 16 generations and most of my lines and my hubby's lines back 8 or more generations, so seeing these numbers laid out so bluntly it's no wonder I can't remember them all!! Thanks again!! Pati In a message dated 2/1/04 10:36:48 AM Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > Thought his to be an eye opener for researchers. Shows clearly the > exponential growth rate encountered when attempting to trace your ancestors. > > Please feel free to share with others! > > Enjoy, > > William W. Hatcher Sr. > Milledgeville, Ga. > God Bless America! > > Subject: Fw: numberofancestors.htm > > This is what is encountered when your search for your ancestors. You can > see you have 256 grandparents after going back just eight generations. (and > a few great internet cousins along the way.) > > > The average number of relatives to 20 generations of grandparents > > > You > 2 parents > 4 grandparents > 8 ggrandparents > 16 gggrandparents > 32 ggggrandparents > 64 gggggrandparents > 128 ggggggrandparents > 256 gggggggrandparents > 512 ggggggggrandparents > 1,024 gggggggggrandparents > 2,048 ggggggggggrandparents > 4,096 gggggggggggrandparents > 8,192 ggggggggggggrandparents > 16,384 gggggggggggggrandparents > 32,768 ggggggggggggggrandparents > 65,536 gggggggggggggggrandparents > 131,072 ggggggggggggggggrandparents > 262,144 gggggggggggggggggrandparents > 524,288 ggggggggggggggggggrandparents > 1,048,576 gggggggggggggggggggrandparents > 2,097,152 ggggggggggggggggggggrandparents > 4,194,304 gggggggggggggggggggggrandparents > ================================================= > 8,388,606 Ancestors to 20 Great Grandparents