Capstone Classics

"Life has advanced so far, and become so complex, that even the most ordinary man or woman requires a great amount of wealth in order to live in a manner that even approaches completeness…To understand the science of getting rich is therefore the most essential of all knowledge."

Wallace Wattles

In 2004, Australian television executive Rhonda Byrne was at breaking point. A divorced mother of two dealing with her father’s recent death, she was also having business problems. Her accountant had just phoned to say she was only a couple of months away from going broke, and she still had two films to complete.

At home one day, she poured out her troubles to her daughter. Hayley Byrne listened and tried to reassure her. She came back a minute later with a bundle of photocopied pages and gave them to her mother. It was a copy of The Science of Getting Rich. The old book “lit a fire in me”, she recalls. "It was exactly the opposite of the way I thought life worked." She began researching the roots of Wattles’ philosophy, and within a year had produced her famous film, The Secret. Made for only $3 million, The Secret sold two million copies in download and DVD format, with sales of the book version passing a million copies. Though it was based on interviews with contemporary ‘law of attraction’ teachers, she was quick to credit Wattles as her original inspiration. After a century of relative obscurity, her work brought Wattles back into the limelight.

Yet even now, what do we really know of Wattles or his book? This was the question I asked myself as I sat down to write an Introduction for this new edition of The Science of Getting Rich. It is a book that has influenced me almost as much as it has Rhonda Byrne, and I was grateful for her work in bringing the work to public attention. The Introduction I've written goes into Wattles' background and why he wrote the book, with insights into his career and the major themes of his work. This edition also includes The Science of Being Great, his less celebrated but no less wonderful work on the power of good character in shaping our success. Click on the links below to get a copy the new 100th anniversary Capstone edition of these great works.

The Science of Getting Rich: The Original Classic (2010)

100th Anniversary Edition

Capstone/Wiley Publishing

256 pages, hardback

Buy online

Amazon UK

Amazon.com