Prolegomena to the Bestiary

Abstract

``Calabi-Yau Manifolds: a Bestiary for Physicists'' by Tristan Hubsch in 1992 was a classic that served to introduce algebraic geometry to physicists when the first string theory revolution of 1984 - 94 brought, inter alia, the subject of Calabi-Yau manifolds to the staple of high-energy theorists. We are fortunate that a substantially expanded and updated new edition of the Bestiary will shortly appear. This brief note will serve as an afterword to the much anticipated volume.