Memes are cultural units or behaviours passed on through imitation. First coined by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene, the word comes from splicing “gene” with mimema, the Greek word for imitation.

Math memes, or memoids as I like to call them, add a dose of mathematical nerdiness to the mix. Memoids poke fun, entertain, and sometimes even educate.

We’ll take a personal guided tour of math memes, with a brief look at how they spread, including a nod to graph burning. No differential equations required. 😊