From the 50 Years Ago section of Scientific American

Scientific American, January 1951
By Isaac Isidor Rabi

DIANETICS: THE MODERN SCIENCE OF MENTAL HEALTH, BY L. RON HUBBARD. Hermitage
House ($4.00). This volume probably contains more promises and less evidence
per page than has any publication since the invention of printing. Briefly,
its thesis is that man is intrinsically good, has a perfect memory for every
event of his life, and is a good deal more intelligent than he appears to
be. However, something called the engram prevents these characteristics from
being realized in man's behavior. During moments of unconsciousness and pain
and at any time from conception onward, the "reactive mind" can still record
experience, but experiences so recorded -engrams- are a major source of
man's misery, his psychosomatic ills, his neuroses and psychoses, his poor
memory, and his generally inefficient functioning. By a process called
dianetic reverie, which resembles hypnosis and which may apparently be
practiced by anyone trained in dianetics, these engrams may be recalled.
Once thoroughly recalled, they are "refiled," and the patient becomes a
"clear," who is not handicapped by encumbering engrams and who can
thenceforth function at a level of intellect, efficiency and goodness seldom
if ever realized before in the history of man. The system is presented
without qualification and without evidence. It has borrowed from
psychoanalysis, Pavlovian conditioning, hypnosis and folk beliefs, but,
except for the last, these debts are fulsomely denied. The huge sale of the
book to date is distressing evidence of the frustrated ambitions, hopes,
ideals, anxieties and worries of the many persons who through it have sought
succor.

I.I. Rabi, winner of the Nobel prize in physics in 1944, is professor of
physics at Columbia University.
http://nobel.sdsc.edu/laureates/physics-1944.html

And this tidbit from the APA

"Psychologists act against Dianetics", by Lucy Freeman, New York
Times, 9/9/50

The American Psychological Association today called on
psychologists, "in the public interest," not to use in therapy the
techniques "peculiar" to a new approach in mental health called
Dianetics. It is outlined in a book of the same name.
The action was taken in a resolution adopted by the Council of
Representatives, governing body of the association, at its closing
season.
The association stated that "in view of the sweeping
generalizations and claims regarding psychology and psychotherapy made
by L. Ron Hubbard in his recent book "Dianetics," the American
Psychological Association adopts the following resolution:
"'While suspending judgment concerning the eventual validity of the
claims made by the author of "Dianetics," the association calls
attention to the fact that these claims are not supported by empirical
evidence of the sort required for the establishment of scientific
generalizations. In the public interest, the association, in the
absence of such evidence, recommends to its members that the use of
the techniques peculiar to Dianetics be limited to scientific
investigations designed to test the validity of its claims.'."
The book, now a best-seller since its publication several months
ago, has been the subject of discussion in psychological and
psychiatric circles. The psychologists represent the first scientific
group to take official action against it and did so only after long
deliberations.
In explaining the action of the council, Dr. E. Lowell Kelly, a
member of it and of the board of directors, said, "what we have here
is a man who claims he has discovered an exact science of the mind and
developed a technique of therapy which goes far beyond that known to
psychology, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis."
He described the technique advanced in the book as "as a
hodge-podge of accepted therapeutic techniques with new names."
One of the main objections to the book made by psychologists is its
contention that anyone, having read it, may practice therapy
successfully without danger to the patient. There is no evidence in
support of this view and "considerable evidence against it," Dr.
Kelley declared.
Mr. Hubbard is described by his publishers as "a mathematician and
theoretical philosopher." The book is titled "Dianetics, the Modern
Science of Mental Health, a Handbook of Dianetic Thereapy." The
preface states that the author has discovered a technique "which will
invariably cure all psychosomatic ills and human aberrations."
In another recommendation, the council "strongly urged" the 8,000
members of the association, as individuals, to offer "tangible
support, in all possible ways, financial and otherwise, to their
collegues whose connections with the University of California at
Berkeley have been severed by recent action of the Regents."
In New York, neither Mr. Hubbard nor a spokesman for his publisher
could be reached last night for comment

"An individual processed with the aid of the E-meter was said to reach the intended goal of "clear" and was led to believe there was reliable scientific proof that once cleared many, indeed most illnesses would automatically be cured. Auditing was guaranteed to be successful. All this was and is false -- in short, a fraud. " Federal District Judge Gesell 333 F. Supp. 357; 1971 U.S. Dist