W. D. (Wallace Delois) Wattles

Born in 1860, W. D. Wattles was an American writer associated with the New Thought movement. He is remembered chiefly for The Science of Getting Rich (1910), a short, influential book that argues wealth can be pursued through a disciplined way of thinking and acting rather than through rivalry alone.

Although many details of his personal life are not well documented, reliable sources agree that his work continued into the last years of his life and that he died on February 7, 1911. He also wrote The Science of Being Well and The Science of Being Great, extending the same practical, upbeat style to health, character, and success.

Wattles remains an intriguing figure because his reputation rests less on biography than on the afterlife of his books. Even now, readers encounter him as one of the early voices behind modern self-help and prosperity writing, with a direct, confident style that has outlasted the era in which he wrote.