This volume tries to summarize the status of observational knowledge of the Kuiper Belt. Its
recent discovery has revitalized the astromomical study of the Solar System and is beginning to
open new and unexpected windows on the physics of planetesimal accretion. With more and better
observational data being obtained at the technological limit of current facilities a new
perception of the relationships that exist among the various classes of small Solar System
bodies has emerged. The new observations have also motivated a number of fascinating
theoretical studies in Solar System dynamics.
