What can present-day people do to prevent technology from doing more harm than good? Bradbury feels that if people read books, they will learn about the history of the world and things they do not understand. Books will instruct people in new ways that do not rely on the use of technology.

Bradbury insists that the purpose of Fahrenheit 451 was not to forecast a world of doom and gloom. "I wasn't trying to predict the future," he says. "I was trying to prevent it." In one immediate sense, he failed. In 1979, he discovered that "some cubby-hole editors" had bowdlerized his book in 98 places to make it more acceptable.. One line -- "Feel like I've a hangover. God, I'm hungry" -- became "Feel like I've a headache. I'm hungry."

The changes first appeared in a 1967 edition for high-school students, but it was not until Bradbury learned of the problem a dozen...

"I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book," Bradbury wrote of the incident.
From one standpoint, it is sad to see how much more the Western World is like that noted in the book. Every year, people become more and more alienated and alone.

However, from another perspective, the book celebrates those who commit their lives to the preservation and passing on of knowledge to future generations.

The year 2003 marked the 50th anniversary for this book. Thousands of individuals of all ages have read it because of the possible threat to mankind. Who can imagine what would happen if books were indeed banned? What if no one ever was able to read 451 Fahrenheit? It would have been a very sorry state of affairs, that is for certain.