mrswilson asked this question on 5/5/2000:

In reference to one of your answers:

The author first wrote a science fiction short story called "Dianetics" for a pulp magazine, and the readership was so positive that he expanded it into a book and called the book "Dianetics."

Where can I find a copy of this science fiction short story "Dianetics" that was written for a pulp magazine?

You help is appreciated!

desertphile gave this response on 5/5/2000:

Hi. You may wish to try to contact "Analog Magazine" and see if they have reprints. I suspect they will. I tried to find a copy of the story on the Internet with no luck. I did find the following, which will help you in your search.

Hubbard introduced "Dianetics" in the May, 1950, issue of "Astounding Science Fiction," the earlier version of the magazine now called "Analog." He was a popular contributor to "Astounding."

According to Hubbard, it was in 1938 that he first discovered the basic axioms of dianetics and began his twelve years of research. Many of his friends insist, however, that these twelve research years are entirely mythical, and that it was not until 1948 that dianetics was hatched. At any rate, one of his earliest patients was John Campbell, Jr., editor of "Astounding Science Fiction." Campbell was suffering, among other things, from chronic sinusitis. His treatment by Hubbard so impressed him, that in May 1950, he published in his pulp magazine the first public report on dianetics. It was an article by Hubbard, written in a few hours, and in a style resembling the broadcast of a football game. The article apparently aroused science-fiction fans to such a pitch of anticipation that when Hubbard's book, "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Healing," was published a few weeks later by Hermitage House, they grabbed the first copies they could lay their hands on.

"Hubbard reveals a deep-seated hatred of women....When Hubbard's Mama's are not getting kicked in the stomach by their husbands or having affairs with lovers, they are preoccupied with AA [attempted abortion]--usually by means of knitting needles." --Martin Gardner, Fads & Fallacies in the Name of Science (New York: Dover Publications, 1957), p.267.

The late Theodore Sturgeon, a distinguished science-fiction writer knew Hubbard fairly well, and told people that at a sci-fi convention the previous year Hubbard had told him and several other writers something like this: "You guys just wait. I've thought up a racket that's going to make me very rich. You'll hear about it in a few months."

By the way, Hubbard didn't start by using the term "engram," which of course he borrowed from biochemistry. In the Astounding article that introduced Dianetics, he called them "Norns," after the witches of Norse mythology. When the book was published, his Norns had been transmogrified into engrams.

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