1. Lafayette Ron Hubbard (1911–1984), active in the 1940s as a → science-fiction writer, in 1950 published a bestselling book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, in which he set forth a model for the analysis and healing of psychic sufferings. It has remained a component of Scientology to this day.

According to the (etymologically erroneous) asseverations of Scientology, dianetics derives from the Greek dia-, ‘through,’ and nous, ‘soul,’ ‘mind.’ Th…