Preface

No hay un aljibe, un patio, un abrevadero, un pesebre; son catorce [son infinitos] los pesebres, abrevaderos, patios, aljibes. There is no one pool, courtyard, drinking trough, manger; the mangers, drinking troughs, courtyards pools are fourteen [infinite] in number. Novel experiences frequently occur in our daily lives: we meet new people, learn new words, listen to new songs, watch a new movie or adopt new technology. These moments of novelty often arise by chance but are just as usually triggered by prior novel experiences, revealing a compelling correlation between their appearances. The same holds for the broader phenomenon of innovation. Innovations play a fundamental role in the evolution of biological systems, human societies and technology. Just as mundane novelties build on one another, one innovation often sets the stage for the next: lipid bilayers led to cell membranes; the transistor paved the way for integrated circuits, personal computers and eventually the World Wide Web through successive, large and small innovations.