Celebrating the 57th Anniversary of Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health

Published 57 years ago today, Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health ignited an entire movement which now spans 5 continents and 160 nations, and comprises over 7500 Scientology churches, missions and groups.

L. Ron Hubbard, whose books sold a remarkable 6.3 million copies last year, has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's most published and most translated author, and the Dianetics book alone has been translated into 53 different languages.

Mr. Kalyan Shah, President of India's Publishers and Booksellers Guild, described Mr. Hubbard as "one of the world's most influential authors whose many works of fiction and non-fiction have both entertained and enlightened readers on all continents and contributed to our emerging global culture. He is not only a publishing phenomenon, his works are a treasure to be shared by all who believe that humanity can find solutions to its many problems and build a better world for all."

It is in building that better world that Dianetics technology is also used by Scientology Volunteer Ministers and relief workers of numerous faiths in disaster zones to help thousands of men, women and children recover from the effects of trauma: in refugee camps; in the ruins of the 2004 tsunami; in shelters,community centers and churches in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; in the notorious slums of Kolkata; in villages decimated by this year's earthquake in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Typhoon Durian in Manila and the tsunamis in the Solomon Islands.

The words with which Mr. Hubbard began the book, fifty-seven years ago, apply as much today as they did more than half a century ago:

"Dianetics is an adventure. It is an exploration into terra incognita, the human mind, that vast and hitherto unknown realm half an inch back of our foreheads.

"The discoveries and developments, which made the formulation of Dianetics possible occupied many years of exact research and careful testing. This was exploration, it was also consolidation. The trail is blazed, the routes are sufficiently mapped for you to voyage in safety into your own mind and recover there your full inherent potential, which is not, we now know, low, but very, very high."