During the 20th century, lake research has become an internationally recognised field of scientific activity, improving our understanding on physical, chemical and biological processes, on fresh water ecology, and water resources among others. The interdisciplinary approaches mainly developed in historical research, as performed by archaeologists and earth scientists, to reconstruct the environmental and climate history of the continents, of human settlements and culture, and to evaluate human impact on the local and global environments. The Geological Society of Switzerland publishes in this volume a selected number of contributions presented during a scientific conference on "Lake Systems from Ice Age to Industrial Time" at Yverdon from 17 to 20 October 2001.