Scientology is a
body of beliefs and practices created in 1954 by American
science fiction author
L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86). After he developed
Dianetics, the Dianetics Foundation entered bankruptcy and Hubbard lost the rights to his seminal publication in 1952. He then recharacterized the subject as a religion and renamed it Scientology, retaining the terminology, doctrines, the
E-meter, and the practice of
auditing. Within a year, he regained the rights to Dianetics and retained both subjects under the umbrella of the
Church of Scientology.