The Science of Mind: The Complete Edition (repost)

Wonderful edition of the SOM, July 13, 2011 By Joe (United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Science of Mind: The Complete Edition (Paperback)
I already wrote a more extensive review about the "Definitive Edition" Science of Mind (the 1938 version), but I just wanted to say that it's nice to see, with the "Complete Edition", the original 1926 text finally getting a proper re-printing.

Although I'm preferable to the 1938 version (I find the ideas more organized), the 1926 version is also an enlightening read, and there were a couple sections (notably the sections on psychic phenomena and the spirit of sex) which were omitted from the 1938 version (according to the biography, "The Was Ernest" by Reginald Armor, Ernest Holmes elected to take the section on psychic phenomena out of the 1938 version because so much of it just couldn't be proven). This version is nice because it has the complete 1926 text in the first section, then the complete 1938 text in the second section.

However, it should be noted that this is really more of a "reader's version". The "Definitive Edition" is a page-for-page correspondence to the 1938 textbook, which is the version most commonly used for SOM courses. I was hoping when this was released that they would keep the page-for-page correspondence for the 1938 section, but it's understandable why they didn't (to conserve space). However, this makes it difficult to use the "Complete Edition" for study courses (i.e. I'm doing the home study course "Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life", and all the textbook page references correspond to the 1938 "Definitive Edition" version). Additionally, the "Concordance to the Science of Mind" by Dr. Al Lowe & Rev. Martha Ann Stewart is the concordance to the 1938 version, again by page number, so that might also create some confusion. This is my only gripe with this printing. Otherwise, I think they did an outstanding job with it.

So if you're just getting this just to read, then I highly recommend it. But if you're getting a copy for SOM study courses, you'll also need a copy of the "Definitive Edition".