Volney Mathison
| Volney G. Mathison | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 13, 1897 |
| Died | January 3, 1965 (aged 67) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Other names | Dex Volney |
| Occupation | Writer, inventor |
| Known for | Inventor of the E-meter |
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.
In 1935, Mathison was married to Jean Darrell, a music librarian for NBC. She died in November 1964.
In 1921, Mathison wrote the fictional short story "A Phony Phone", which was published in Radio News edited by Hugo Gernsback. In 1924, he wrote the fictional book The Radiobuster: Being Some of the Adventures of Samuel Jones, Deep Sea Wireless Operator. 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. He also wrote stories 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.
In the June 1929 issue of Amazing Stories, Mathison's story "The Mongolian's Ray" appeared and was promoted on the cover. 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.
In 1935, Mathison was employed building short wave radios. He was also a chiropractor and psychoanalyst. According to some critics of Scientology, Mathison designed and built the first E-meter in the 1940s, which he called a Mathison Electropsychometer, 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 and other writers identify the lecturer as L. Ron Hubbard.
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