Volney Mathison

{{Infobox person

| name = Volney G. Mathison

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1897|8|13}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{death date and age|1965|1|3|1897|8|13}}

| death_place =

| nationality = American

| other_names = Dex Volney

| known_for = Inventor of the E-meter

| occupation = Writer, inventor

}}

Volney G. Mathison, also known by the pseudonym Dex Volney (August 13, 1897 – January 3, 1965), was an American chiropractor, writer, and inventor of the first E-meter used by the Church of Scientology.{{cite news| last = Nadali | first =Giorgio | title = Processo a Scientology : Rischia la chiusura definitiva in Francia la psicosetta fondata dallo scrittore Ron Hubbard | work =Affari Italiani |publisher = www.affaritaliani.it | date = June 8, 2009 | url = http://expianetadidio.blogspot.it/2009/06/scientology-rischio-chiusura-definitiva.html| access-date =2013-01-15 }}

Family

In 1935, Mathison was married to Jean Darrell, a music librarian for NBC.{{cite news| last = Nye | first = Carroll | title = Night races to go on air | work = Los Angeles Times | page = 6 | date =May 15, 1935 }} She died in November 1964.{{cite news| last = Los Angeles Times staff | title =Deaths, Funeral Announcements | work =Los Angeles Times | page =B17 | date = November 13, 1964 }}

Career

=Writer=

File:Radiobuster.jpg

In 1921, Mathison wrote the fictional short story "A Phony Phone", which was published in Radio News edited by Hugo Gernsback.{{cite book| last =Ashley | first =Michael |author2=Robert A. W. Lowndes | title = The Gernsback Days | publisher = Wildside Press | year = 2004 | page =418 | isbn = 0-8095-1055-3}} In 1924, he wrote the fictional book The Radiobuster: Being Some of the Adventures of Samuel Jones, Deep Sea Wireless Operator.{{cite book| last = Smith | first = Geoffrey Dayton | title =American Fiction, 1901-1925: A Bibliography | url = https://archive.org/details/americanfiction10000smit | url-access = registration | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1997| page = [https://archive.org/details/americanfiction10000smit/page/455 455] | isbn =0-521-43469-6 }} The book is listed in American Fiction, 1901-1925: A Bibliography. Mathison's story "The Death Bottle" was published in Weird Tales in March 1925.{{cite book | first=Everett F.| last=Bleiler| title=Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years: A complete coverage of the genre magazines Amazing, Astounding, Wonder, and others from 1926 through 1936| publisher=The Kent State University Press| location=Kent, Ohio| year=1998 | isbn= 0-87338-604-3|page=281}} He also wrote stories most of which were published under the pseudonym of "Dex Volney". His pieces as "Dex Volney" were of the Western genre, and set in Alaska. According to Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years, Mathison was "a prolific author" under this pseudonym. As Dex Volney, he wrote popular stories published by Street & Smith.{{cite book | last = Tuska | first = Jon | title = Stories of the far North | publisher = University of Nebraska Press | year = 1999 | page = xv | isbn = 0-8032-9434-4 | url = https://archive.org/details/storiesoffarnort0000unse }}

In the June 1929 issue of Amazing Stories, Mathison's story "The Mongolian's Ray" appeared and was promoted on the cover.{{cite book| last = Ackerman | first = Forrest J. |author2=Brad Linaweaver | title = Worlds of Tomorrow: The Amazing Universe of Science Fiction Art | publisher = Collectors Press| year = 2004 | page =56 | isbn = 978-1-888054-93-4}} Forrest J. Ackerman and Brad Linaweaver write in the book Worlds of Tomorrow, "In this story, he created the fictional device that shortly after the introduction of Dianetics, morphed into reality as the E-meter employed today to supposedly reveal the personalities of individuals interested in becoming 'clears' in the Dianetic regimen." Mathison's story "Thor Olsen's Ace" was selected for inclusion in The World's Best Short Stories of 1930.{{cite book| title = The World's Best Short Stories of 1930 | publisher = Minton, Balch | year = 1930 | location = New York | page =308 | oclc = 3373283 }}

=Inventor=

In 1935, Mathison was employed building short wave radios. He was also a chiropractor and psychoanalyst.{{cite news | last =Pilkington | first =Mark | title =Clear thinking | work =The Guardian | publisher =Guardian News and Media Limited | date =February 17, 2005 | url =https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/feb/17/science.research | access-date = 2010-01-14 }}{{cite book | last =Pilkington | first =Mark | title =Far Out: 101 Strange Tales from Science's Outer Edge | publisher =The Disinformation Company| year =2007 | pages =85–87 | isbn = 978-1-932857-87-0}} According to some critics of Scientology, Mathison designed and built the first E-meter in the 1940s,{{cite book |last1 = Singh|first1 = Simon|author-link = Simon Singh|last2 = Ernst|author2-link = Edzard Ernst|title = Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine|publisher = W. W. Norton & Company|year = 2008|pages = 163–165|isbn = 978-0-393-06661-6|first2 = Edzard}} which he called a Mathison Electropsychometer,{{cite book | last =Freeman | first =John | title =Suppressed and Incredible Inventions | publisher =Health Research | year =1987 | page =41 | isbn = 0-7873-1091-3}} or E-meter, to read electrodermal activity. However, Mathison wrote in his own book, Electropsychometry, that he first began considering the subject of E-meters when he attended a series of lectures in 1950{{cite book|last1=Mathison|first1=Volney|title=Electropsychometry|date=1952|publisher=Mathison Electropsychometers|location=Los Angeles, CA|page=101|edition=1|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/E-Meter/Electropsychometry.pdf|access-date=11 May 2015}} and other writers identify the lecturer as L. Ron Hubbard.{{cite book |last1=Garrison |first1=Omar V. |title=The Hidden Story of Scientology |date=August 1974 |edition=1st |publisher=Citadel Press (Lyle Stuart, Inc.) |location=Secaucus, NJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/hiddenstoryofsci00garr/page/64 64] |isbn=0-8065-0440-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/hiddenstoryofsci00garr/page/64 }}

The E-meter "has a needle that swings back and forth across a scale when a patient holds on to two electrical contacts". He used the device to investigate the psychoanalytic problems of his patients. He then employed self-hypnosis tapes, and instructed his patients to use them to address those issues. The device became popular and was used among other chiropractors. John Freeman writes in Suppressed and Incredible Inventions, "Recalling my visits at the height of his career, I remember that, while his results were outstanding, he was typically fought by the Medical Profession." The Mathison meter was based on the Wheatstone bridge invented in 1833. Earlier electrodermal activity meters were used by Ivane Tarkhnishvili in 1889 and popularized by Carl Gustav Jung in a series of papers published in 1904.{{cite book|last1=Binswanger|first1=L.|editor1-last=Jung|editor1-first=Carl|title=Studies in Word-Association|date=1919|publisher=Moffat, Yard & company|location=New York, NY|pages=446 et seq|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/studiesinwordass00jung#page/446/mode/2up/search/psychogalvanic|access-date=30 March 2015|chapter=XII}}

File:Volney mathison.jpg

Mathison was a follower of Dianetics founded by L. Ron Hubbard.{{cite book | last =Atack | first =Jon | title =A Piece of Blue Sky | publisher =Carol Publishing Group | year =1990 | location =New York | pages =[https://archive.org/details/pieceofblueskysc00atac/page/128 128–129] | isbn =0-8184-0499-X }} Hubbard incorporated Mathison's device into Scientology practices. Hubbard often called him simply "Mathison" in his writings. According to author Paulette Cooper, Scientologists erroneously referred to him as "Olin Mathison".{{cite book | last =Cooper | first =Paulette | author-link =Paulette Cooper | title =The Scandal of Scientology | publisher =Tower Publications | year =1971 | location =New York | pages =145–146|oclc=921001 }} Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst write in Trick or Treatment that "The E-meter was also widely used by the Church of Scientology, so much so that many Scientologists believe that it was invented by their founder L. Ron Hubbard."

According to the 1986 memoirs of Hubbard's son, Ronald DeWolf, after establishing usage of the E-meter in Dianetics, Hubbard asked Mathison to give the patent rights to him, but Mathison refused to give up the patent rights, wishing that it remain the "Mathison E-meter". Mathison was granted {{US Patent|2684670}} for his vacuum tube E-meter in 1954. But DeWolf was inconsistent on this history. In an earlier sworn affidavit to the Federal District Court in about 1980, DeWolf stated that Mathison gave Hubbard his rights to the E-meter in 1952.{{cite web|last1 = DeWolf|first1 = Ronald|title = Affidavit of Ronald DeWolf|url = http://www.ronthenut.org/dewolf.htm|website = Ron the Nut|publisher = Organized Crime Civilian Response|access-date = 30 April 2015|date = 1980|quote = My father obtained the rights to the E-meter in 1952 from Volney Mathison in the same manner that he does everything - through fraud and coercion.}}

Another writer tells yet a third version this history. According to Gordon Melton, the first E-meter was "developed by Volney Mathison, following Hubbard's designs."{{cite book|last1=Melton|first1=J. Gordon|title=Studies in Contemporary Religion: The Church of Scientology|date=2000|publisher=Signature Books, Inc.|location=United States of America|page=[https://archive.org/details/churchofscientol00meltrich/page/10 10]|isbn=1-56085-139-2|url=https://archive.org/details/churchofscientol00meltrich/page/10}}

Use of the E-meter in Dianetics practice was subsequently stopped by Hubbard in 1954.{{cite book | last =Corydon | first =Bent | title = L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? | publisher =Barricade Books | year =1992 | pages =332–333 | isbn = 0-942637-57-7}} In 1966, Hubbard was awarded a United States patent for a solid-state E-meter, described as a "Device for Measuring and Indicating Changes in Resistance of a Living Body".

According to some writers, Mathison was bitter and disillusioned about Scientology.{{cite book|title=Dianetik und Scientology in ihrem Anspruch als Wissenschaft|first=Tilo|last=Müller|pages=32|publisher=GRIN Verlag|year=2010|isbn=978-3-640-58010-1|quote=Mathison stated: "I decry the doings of trivial fakers, such as scientologists and the like, who glibly denounce hypnosis and then try covertly to use it in their phony systems"}}

Many of Mathison's professional activities and publications — chiropractic,{{cite web |title=Chiropractic history: a primer |last1=Keating |first1=JC Jr |last2=Cleveland |first2=CS III |last3=Menke |first3=M |url=http://data.memberclicks.com/site/ahc/ChiroHistoryPrimer.pdf |year=2005 |access-date=16 June 2008 |publisher=Association for the History of Chiropractic }}{{dead link|date=November 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{Cite journal|last= Keating |first=JC Jr |journal= Skeptical Inquirer |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=37–43 |title= Chiropractic: science and antiscience and pseudoscience side by side |year=1997}}{{cite journal | title = Angry scientists fight university's attempt to affiliate with chiropractic college | journal = Canadian Medical Association Journal |date=December 1999 | first = T. | last = Johnson | volume = 160 | issue = 1 | pages = 99–100 | pmc = 1229962 }}{{cite news | title = First public chiropractic school causes stir | date = 17 January 2005 | url = https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6835571 | publisher = NBC News | access-date =7 November 2010}} psychoanalysis,{{cite book|last=Cioffi |first=Frank |contribution=Psychoanalysis, Pseudo-Science and Testability|editor1-last=Currie|editor1-first= Gregory| editor2-last=Musgrave|editor2-first= Alan |year=1985|title= Popper and the Human Sciences |series= Nijhoff International Philosophy Series|publisher= SpringerVerlag|pages=13–44|isbn=978-90-247-2998-2 }}{{cite book|last=Popper|first=K. R.|contribution=Science: Conjectures and Refutations| editor-last=Grim |editor-first=P |year=1990|title= Philosophy of Science and the Occult|url=https://archive.org/details/philosophyofscie00grim|url-access=registration|location= Albany| pages=[https://archive.org/details/philosophyofscie00grim/page/104 104–110]|isbn=9780791402047}} past life regression,{{Cite book| first1=Steven Jay | last1=Lynn| first2=Timothy|last2=Lock|first3=Elizabeth|last3=Loftus|first4= Elisa |last4=Krackow|first5=Scott O.|last5=Lilienfeld| chapter=The remembrance of things past: problematic memory recovery techniques in psychotherapy| title=Science and Pseudoscience in Psychotherapy| editor1-first=Scott O.| editor1-last=Lilienfeld|editor2-last= Lynn|editor2-first=Steven Jay|editor3-last=Lohr|editor3-first=Jeffrey M.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZr0DtX2siQC&pg=PA219|publisher=Guilford Press| location=New York| pages=219–220| year=2003| isbn = 1-57230-828-1| access-date=25 February 2008}} "hypnotically induced past life experiences are rule-governed, goal-directed fantasies that are context generated and sensitive to the demands of the hypnotic regression situation." and hypnotherapyWesten et al. 2006 "Psychology: Australian and New Zealand edition" John Wiley.{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/hypnotism-does-not-exist-say-the-experts-1389968.html|title=Hypnotism does not exist, say experts | work=The Independent | location=London | first1=Brian | last1=Cathcart | first2=Tom | last2=Wilkie | date=18 December 1994 | access-date=31 March 2010}} — have been classed as pseudosciences by various critics.

Bibliography

=Fiction=

{{cite book| last = Mathison | first = Volney G. | title = The Radiobuster: Being Some of the Adventures of Samuel Jones, Deep Sea Wireless Operator | publisher = Frederick A. Stokes Company|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | year = 1924 | oclc = 6869013 }}
"The Death Bottle," Weird Tales, March 1925
Dex Volney, "Renegade of Eagle Cove," North•West Romances, Summer 1943 (last known published fiction)

=Non-fiction=

{{cite book| editor-last = Hills | editor-first = William Henry | editor2-last = Luce | editor2-first = Robert|last = Volney | first = Dex |title =The Writer|contribution=Beginning the Story | year = 1927 | page = 57| id = Volume 39 }}
{{cite book| last1 =Hubbard | first1 = L. Ron |last2 =Mathison | first2 = Volney G. |title = Electropsychometric Auditing / Operator's Manual / Dianetics and Scientology [with] Notes on Technique 100| publisher = The Office of L. Ron Hubbard| year = 1952|location=Phoenix, AZ|url=http://biblio.co.uk/book/electropsychometric-auditing-operators-manual-dianetics-scientology/d/637510514}}
{{cite book| last =Mathison | first = Volney G. |title = Electropsychometry| publisher = V. G. Mathison| year = 1952|oclc=57001177 }}
{{cite book| last =Mathison | first = Volney G. |title = Manual Electropsychometry| publisher = Mathison Electropsychometers| year = 1953|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8dkqcgAACAAJ&q=volney+mathison }}
{{cite book| last = Mathison | first = Volney G. | title = Creative Image Therapy | publisher =Mathison Electropsychometer | year = 1954 | oclc = 55984760 }}
{{cite book| last =Mathison | first =Volney G. | title = How to Achieve Past Life Recalls| publisher = Institute of Physical and Mental Development | year = 1956 | location = Quincy, Massachusetts | oclc = 42019616 }}
{{cite book| last = Mathison | first = Volney G. | title = The Secret of the Lourdes Miracles Revealed | publisher = Mathison Electropsychometers | year = 1956 | location = Los Angeles, California | oclc = 49324997 }}
{{cite book| last =Mathison | first = Volney G.| title = Practical Self-Hypnosis: How to Achieve and Effectively to Use Hypnosis Without the Presence of an Operator | publisher = Mathison Electro Psychometers | year =1957 | oclc = 54514206 }}
{{cite book| last = Mathison | first =Volney G. | title =Space-Age Self Hypnosis | year = 1957 }}
{{cite book| last =Mathison | first = Volney G.| title = The Secret Power of the Crystal Pendulum | publisher = Institute of Self Hypnosis | year =1958}}