Is it hard to read?
No, short chapters and direct, insistent instructions make it easy to follow without specialist knowledge. The main challenge is accepting its spiritual premises, rather than navigating complicated prose.
Nonfiction · Philosophy · Business & Economics · Self-Help
The Science of Getting Rich
Reading facts
✓ Checked- Reading effort
- 23 / 100Light
- Length
- 104 pagesCosimo Classics · 2007
- Reading time
- 2 hat 50 pages an hour ·
- Pace
- Brisk
- Emotional intensity
- 1 / 5
About 2 h · at 30 minutes a day, about 5 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
Wallace D. Wattles argues that wealth follows from a particular way of thinking and acting, grounded in his belief that a universal thinking substance responds to human thought. His instructions combine a clear mental picture of what you want with gratitude, attention turned away from poverty, and effective work in your present job or business. He treats wealth as something people can create without competing over a limited supply.
Reader notes
Short chapters and direct, insistent instructions make this New Thought self-help manual easy to follow. Its central claims are presented as certainties to accept and practice; the promise of guaranteed riches rests on spiritual belief, with little examination of evidence.
How it reads
- Writing style
- Direct · Essayistic
- Tone
- Earnest · Hopeful · Philosophical
- Structure
- Argumentative
- Driven by
- Argument · Ideas
- Point of view
- Second person
- Evidence style
- Philosophical argument
- Practical orientation
- Actionable
- Nonfiction form
- Prescriptive how to
Reading complexity
- Writing
- 2 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 2 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 1 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Themes
- Ambition
- Religion and faith
- Transformation
- Wealth
- Work
Content notes
- Violence
- None
- Sexual content
- None
- Swearing
- None
- Substance use
- None
- Abuse
- None
- Self-harm or suicide
- None
Questions readers ask
How practical is the advice?
The instructions combine forming a clear mental picture of what you want, practicing gratitude, and working effectively in your present job or business. These actions are tied to the belief that thought can produce wealth.
Is the promise of riches supported by evidence?
Not really, the promise of guaranteed riches rests on spiritual belief, with little examination of evidence. Wattles presents his central claims as certainties to accept and practice.
Who is it best suited to?
It suits someone interested in spiritual self-help and a philosophical approach to wealth and work. Its New Thought argument centers on a universal thinking substance that responds to human thought.
How long is it?
104 pages in the Cosimo Classics 2007 paperback edition.
Which edition is shown here?
Cosimo Classics · 2007 · Paperback. ISBN 9781602060494.
How long does it take to read The Science of Getting Rich?
About 2 hours at 50 pages an hour, based on the 104-page Cosimo Classics edition. Dense books can take longer.
About the author
Wallace D. Wattles
Wallace D. Wattles was an American New Thought writer whose work joined spiritual metaphysics to direct, practical instruction. He is best known for The Science of Getting Rich, a compact self-help argument that treats wealth creation as a systematic practice: thought acts upon an underlying substance, and readers can learn to direct it toward material ends. His wider interests also included Christianity and socialism, which he considered together in A New Christ and Jesus: The Man and His Work. Though Wattles remains a relatively obscure figure, his books have stayed in print and influenced later popular self-help, notably Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret.
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Edition and details
- Publisher
- Cosimo Classics
- Publication year
- 2007
- Format
- Paperback
- Pages
- 104
- ISBN
- 9781602060494
- Edition language
- English
- Original language
- English
- First published
- 1910
- Genres and form
- Nonfiction · Philosophy · Business & Economics · Self-Help · Religion & Spirituality · Self-help · Personal development · Spiritual self help
- Editions
- 30
- Languages
- 4 (English, Spanish, Unspecified, Chinese)