BBVA launched this collection of books in 2008, coinciding with the first edition of the Frontiers of Knowledge Prizes awarded by the Fundacion BBVA. The enthusiasm generated by the first books in this series led them to create OpenMind (www.bbvaopenmind.com), an online community designed to generate and spread knowledge for the benefit of society. Ultimately, the broad spectrum of subjects covered by OpenMind (including science, technology, economics, the environment, and the humanities) reflects BBVA's commitment to helping people understand the main phenomena that affect their lives and shape their futures. This year the BBVA presents a schematic view of the potential of what are known as 'exponential technologies', considering their economic, social, environmental, ethical, and even ontological implications. This book's fundamental theme is that humanity is at the beginning of a technological revolution, one which is evolving at a much faster pace than earlier ones. This explosion of ingenuity will be so far reaching that it is destined to generate transformations we can only begin to imagine in the present day.