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Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist and author of many scientific books. Probably the most popular one is The Selfish Gene. One interesting fact is that in that book Dawkins coined the term meme, which is widely used today and known as those funny pictures with the text on them whirling daily around the web. The original meaning of the term though, it's quite different. Meme is a shortening (modeled on gene) of mimeme, which comes from Ancient Greek mīmēma (μίμημα), meaning 'imitated thing', itself from mimeisthai (μιμεῖσθαι, 'to imitate'), from mimos (μῖμος, 'mime'). The term was meant to represent the way culture, ideas, and behavior replicate themselves the same way our genes do.
Below, you can enjoy excerpts from his book – The Selfish Gene
