The Future Is Here
We may earn a commission from links on this page

This Special Edition of Fahrenheit 451 Can Only Be Read When It's Heated

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 tells the story of a dystopian future where books have been outlawed and are destroyed by firemen who set them ablaze. But in an ironic twist, Super Terrain, a publisher in France, has created a new edition of Bradbury’s classic that actually requires extreme heat in order to be read.

Jo Frenken shared this video to Instagram showing a prototype copy of the book, which was developed by the Charles Nypels Lab at the Netherlands-based Jan van Eyck Academie—a research institute known for its experiments in materials and media. The pages of the book appear completely blacked-out—like a redacted CIA file—as you flip through them. But when heat is applied, using a flame from a lighter, in this case, the heat-activated ink disappears and the underlying text is revealed.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Super Terrain will apparently be making this unique version of Fahrenheit 451 available sometime in 2018, but we recommend maybe grabbing a hair dryer to read it. An actual open flame is probably a bit too risky.

Advertisement

[Instagram via Laughing Squid]