Google is paying tribute to English mathematician and philosopher George Boole with its Google Doodle on Monday, which would have been his 200th birthday.
The Doodle shows different sets of variables, symbolizing his Boolean logic that helped set the stage for the digital information age. Boolean algebra, which revolutionized logic and math and laid the groundwork for engineering and computer science, is detailed in his book The Laws of Thought in 1854.
Artist Leon Hong created the Doodle, which "cycles through all the ANDs, ORs, NOTs, and even XORs of the Boolean states for two discrete variables."
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Boole became the first mathematics professor at University College Cork in Ireland in 1849, paving the way for his developments in logic and mathematics.
Despite the complexity of the universe, Boole believed things could be seen in relatively simple terms.
"Any values can be pared down to yes or no, true or false, or 0 or 1 (which, here at Google, is our personal favorite)," Google said about the Doodle.
But the Doodle you see on Google's homepage on Monday -- like other days -- depends on where you're located. In most places around the world, you'll see the Boole one; but in the U.S. and Mexico, you'll see a string of colorful papel picado -- tissue paper with cut-out patterns -- to celebrate Mexico's Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
The traditional holiday is meant to remember and honor departed souls with color, music and festivities. Papel picado, like the one illustrated by Kevin Laughlin in the Google Doodle, decorates windows and doorways all around Mexico.