  In these notes, based on lectures given in Istanbul, we give an introduction
both to Monstrous Moonshine and to the classification of rational conformal
field theories, using this as an excuse to explore several related structures
and go on a little tour of modern math. We will discuss Lie algebras, modular
functions, the finite simple group classification, vertex operator algebras,
Fermat's Last Theorem, category theory, (generalised) Kac-Moody algebras,
denominator identities, the A-D-E meta-pattern, representations of affine
algebras, Galois theory, etc. This work is informal and pedagogical, and aimed
mostly at grad students in math or math phys, but I hope that many interested
nonexperts will find something of value here -- like any good Walt Disney movie
I try not to completely ignore the `grown-ups'. My emphasis is on ideas and
motivations, so these notes are intended to complement other papers and books
where this material is presented with more technical detail. The level of
difficulty varies significantly from topic to topic. The two parts -- in fact
any of the sections -- can be read independently.
