With the restoration of peace, Ron set out to further test the workability of Dianetics, among hundreds of individuals from all walks of life. In 1947, after developing a uniquely effective technology, one tested thoroughly in this real-world laboratory, he collected notes drawn from numerous case histories amassed through preceding years of testing, and prepared a thesis detailing both underlying theory and techniques. Copies of the manuscript were distributed to medical and scientific circles, then eagerly recopied and passed to friends. In that way, Ron’s original thesis on Dianetics saw immediate and wide circulation.

To meet the veritable flood of inquiries from readers, Ron was next urged to author a definitive text on the subject. Accordingly, he began work on Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, the first comprehensive text ever written about the human mind.

Its release on May 9, 1950 became a landmark event in publishing history, capturing wide public interest and acclaim. The work immediately topped The New York Times bestseller list and remained there week after week. It has since become the most widely read and used book on the human mind in history, with 20 million copies in circulation. Today, Dianetics is a worldwide phenomenon, used by millions in more than 150 nations and in excess of 50 languages.

Dianetics, however, by no means marked a culmination of Ron’s research. Indeed, with further discoveries he was soon plumbing the whole track of human existence, so providing the demonstrable proof that man was far more than a “one life” being, and certainly was not his body. With further research, he developed the first techniques to exteriorize the individual from his body, and so realized a 2,500 year-old dream.