The Power of Khan-woo is Seven Times as Strong as an Average Person

The Science of The Three Nations Story /

The Science of Greek & Rome Mythology

Writer: Kim Tae-ho and Lee Jung-mo

282 page/288 page, each 1,2800 won, Whistler

“The Three Nations Story” is the biggest best seller in the Orient. “The Science of The Three Nations Story/ The Science of Greek & Rome Mythology” is also a must-have book for entrance into the understanding of western European culture. Based on books about the oriental view of the world and the western view of the mythology, these books describe scientific issues delightfully.

Let’s take a look at the story about the height of Kwan-woo (nine yards) with the weight of the sword of a blue dragon and a half-moon. In the period of Han, one yard was equal to 22.5cm. Accordingly, the height of Chang-bee (eight yards) is 180cm, and Kwan-woo’s height is a little more than two meters. The weight of the sword of the blue dragon and the half-moon is 16.4kg, because one pound was about 200g at that time. One horsepower is the power that can hoist 75kgs of objects to the height of one meter. Considering the power of the today’s average man is about 1.5 horsepower, the power of Kwan-woo is about seven times as strong.

At that time, a carriage was the main mobile power in a war, and the stirrup, which helps a rider fix his feet on the horse, was not yet developed. Their strength was the reason why Dong-tak and Yeo-po, both from nomadic tribes, could ride horses without stirrups and they also won every war.

The attractiveness of this book, however, is that it is not limited only to, “The Three Nations Story” but that it jumps from images of the oriental society to the western society, and from the past to the present, according its subject.

It also illustrates a yellow tailed anemone fish, the main character in “Finding Nemo,” which was awarded “Best Animated Film” at the Academy Awards. The book says, a male yellow tailed anemone fish can turn his sex to female and the largest youngster is singled out to the male for propagation, if the female dies. If this is so, what was the father’s tenacity for Nemo, who had lost his mother? Was it the love of father, the love for the mother or the love for the opposite sex?

This book explains not only about western science, such as physics, astronomy, cryptography, and Zenon’s paradox, but also about oriental science, such as the male, female and five elements principle, physiognomy and the magical method of contracting space.

“Greek & Rome Mythology Science” reconstructs the world of myth into more logical scientific prose. It draws on the Chaos theory and the Gaia theory from the myths about the birth of the universe and the earth. With respect to the war between Zeus’s Olympus warriors and the Cronus’ Titan warriors, this book introduces the knowledge of physiology, such as the blood-brain barrier, which keeps away vomiting, and serotonin, which causes fatigue. It explains stem cells as the human challenge to eternal life (Zeus) in the part of the Prometheus myth. It also explains teleportation in the part of Perseus, and the “Ground” effect in the part about the flight of Ikarus.

The TV show the “X-files” is sympathetic to the views of the character Mulder, the believer in mystery, rather than the character of Scully, the believer of reason. By reading these two books, which seems to solve even exaggerated history and symbolic myths with the language of science, one could expect that the future human being would be partial to the mentality of the “Scully” character, rather than that of the “Mulder” type.

Chae-Hyun Kwon confetti@donga.com