A new kind of exhibition explores how scientific discovery has disrupted our understanding of the world – and our place within it
Linda Hall Library hosts “Alchemy of Knowledge,” an immersive educational experience
What does it mean to be human when the ground beneath knowledge shifts? Our understanding of the world shapes our culture, institutions, and sense of identity. When scientific discovery disrupts that understanding, it triggers periods of instability and moments when society must renegotiate what is true, who holds authority, and what it means to be human.
In an all-new exhibition from Linda Hall Library opening March 13, 2026, visitors step inside these transformative moments and experience how knowledge reshapes culture.
“Alchemy of Knowledge: Science and Mystery from Shakespeare to AI” spotlights science-led disruption that created cultural transformation and reshaped how humans understand reality across a long historical arc from the sixteenth century to today.
“Studying rare books from the history of scientific discovery can tell us what changed over time, and this exhibition invites visitors to feel the uncertainty and intellectual courage behind those changes,” said Eric Dorfman, Linda Hall Library President. “By moving through immersive environments beginning with a forest shaped by a magical world view to the ordered light of empirical science and into a world transformed by the microscope, you encounter the intensity of discovery as it unfolded throughout the centuries.”
Offered free and open to the public, “Alchemy of Knowledge” features original editions of scientific texts from throughout the centuries – some nearly 500 years old – that challenged established authority and redefined entire disciplines. Works on display include:
- Cornelius Agrippa’s “De occulta philosophia libri tres” from 1533
- Francis Bacon’s “Novum Organum” from 1620
- René Descartes’s “Principia philosophiae” from 1644
- Robert Boyle’s “The Sceptical Chymist” from 1661
- Robert Hooke’s “Micrographia” from 1665
Beyond rare volumes, visitors encounter immersive installations that translate ideas into experience. In one gallery, a hands-on experiment inspired by Francis Bacon demonstrates how motion generates heat, inviting guests to participate in the scientific method. In another, the viewer is inside a dramatic, magnified drop of water that recreates the astonishment of seventeenth-century microscopists who first glimpsed an invisible universe. Throughout the exhibition, lines from Shakespeare’s plays echo the tension of a world caught between mystery and reason.
“The exhibition culminates in a contemporary reflection on artificial intelligence, asking visitors to consider whether today’s technological shifts mirror the disruptions of the Renaissance,” said Dorfman. “As AI reshapes creativity, authorship, and authority, ‘Alchemy of Knowledge’ invites a pressing question: are we witnessing another paradigm shift? How will we respond?”
Linda Hall Library is one of the world’s leading independent science research libraries. Using its collections and other resources, the Library inspires curiosity, innovation, and cultural engagement with science. Through exhibitions like “Alchemy of Knowledge,” educational partnerships, and public events programming, Linda Hall Library reaches beyond its walls to ensure that its wealth of resources makes a tangible difference in people’s lives.
“Alchemy of Knowledge: Science and Mystery from Shakespeare to AI” is led by Scott Perich, Linda Hall Library Vice President of Visitor Experience and curated by Eric Dorfman and Bill Ashworth, with input from scholars at UMKC.
The exhibition will be on display at the Linda Hall Library from its opening weekend on March 13 and 14, 2026 through October 2026, located at 5109 Cherry Street in Kansas City, Missouri. The Library is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Exhibition galleries will also be open the second Saturday of the month, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Media Contact
Whit Bones
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bonesw@lindahall.org