(BIVN) – The Physics of Pō and The Pō of Physics was the title of a presentation given last week by Associate Professor Larry Kimura (UH Hilo’s College of Hawaiian Language & Hawaiian Studies) and Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Executive Director Doug Simons.

A large crowd gathered to hear the public talk held at the Imiloa Astronomy Center on Thursday evening, July 25th. Kimura and Simons talked about “the Kumulipo and studies done on the first 11 lines, incorporating astronomy theories on the origins of the Universe,” event organizers said.

From an event media release:

One of the outstanding aspects of Hawaiian culture relates to the underrated but treasured Kumulipo, the most significant and historic Hawaiian creation chant that has survived to modern times….

With more than 2,000 lines, the Kumulipo tells of a fathomless source of power (deep darkness) that evolves increasingly into complex life forms. It has been compared to ancient Greek accounts of creation. King Kalākaua, Hawai’i’s seventh ruling monarch, inherited the chant, which honors several of his ancestors. In 1889, the King had the Kumulipo printed in its entirety. As a result, the chant has survived while many other genealogical chants have not.

“We are always asked, how do you balance science and culture,” said Kaʻiu Kimura, executive director of the Imiloa Astronomy Center. “But really, it’s about perspective and Hawaiʻi has a very unique world view that it offers. So with that as our foundation, we are confident and able to explore new knowledge systems that are introduced and continue to explore through scientific inquiry to better understand who we are.”