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Get Ready to Bee Amazed with The Qwerty Effect

If you’ve got just a moment to spare, you can learn something you didn’t know before thanks to How the World Looks to a Bee: And Other Moments of Science edited by Don Glass. This must-have collection features science facts, experiments, and intriguing everyday phenomena. Read this sneak peek to keep your curiosity satiated and get your copy of How the World Looks to a Bee: And Other Moments of Science wherever books are sold!

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The QWERTY Effect

 

Today, most writing happens through an interface with technology. The act of writing is now synonymous with the task of typing as more work-related and personal correspondence takes place at the computer keys. Researchers David Garcia and Markus Strohmaier have traced the rise of an interesting phenomenon connected to this integration of the keyboard as our primary writing tool.

 

Photo Credit: ScienceAlert.com

The phenomenon is called the QWERTY effect, which is named after the first six letters at the top left of the keyboard. It describes the finding that words with higher ratios of letters from the right side of the keyboard are linked to more positive emotions than words that use more letters from the left side of the keyboard. The researchers demonstrated the idea with a sample of English speakers, all of whom ranked words with higher proportions of letters from the right keys as more positive.

 

But why does this happen? Previous research noted that regardless of whether they are left- or right-handed, people on average type faster with the right hand. Also, consider that there are fewer letters on the right side of the keyboard. These factors make typing with the right hand easier, which over time has conditioned our perceptions of the letters themselves.

 

Some researchers have remained unconvinced by these findings, but Garcia and Strohmaier continue to produce supporting evidence. For example, they’ve found that across websites like YouTube, Amazon, and Rotten Tomatoes products and titles with higher ratios of letters from the right side of the keyboard tend to have higher ratings. In the future, it would be interesting to study if the QWERTY effect contributes to the popularity of certain online messages or posts.

 

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Written for readers of all ages with no background in science required, How the World Looks to a Bee is the perfect armchair companion for curious people who want to know more about the science of everyday life but have only a moment to spare. Author Don Glass is Special Projects Director at public radio station WFIU-FM and the radio producer of A Moment of Science. His other books include How Can You Tell if a Spider is Dead? and Why You Can Never Get to the End of the Rainbow. He currently resides in Bloomington, Indiana.

How the World Looks to a Bee Giveaway!

If you’ve got just a moment to spare, you can learn something you didn’t know before thanks to How the World Looks to a Bee: And Other Moments of Science by Don Glass. This must-have collection features science facts, experiments, and intriguing everyday phenomena. Go ahead and sit in your armchair, sip your tea, and discover something new! Enjoy the exclusive video below.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to read this book. Enter to win your very own copy of this fascinating book below! Giveaway ends March 17, 2020.

Win A Copy of Award-Winning 'UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens'

We're delighted to announce that UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens has won the 2017 Robert P. Balles Annual Prize in Critical Thinking from the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the 2018 IPPY Gold Medal for Science. To celebrate, we're giving away a free copy of the book!

Lights in the sky over Area 51. Unnatural cloud formations. A crash and a cover-up in Roswell.

These are the phenomena that spark conspiracy rants on message boards across the internet, ongoing fascination with unexplained sightings the world over, and even a campaign promise from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to release what the U.S. government knows about alien visitors.

But Donald R. Prothero and Timothy D. Callahan are here to fight conspiracy fire with scientific fact, offering explanations for the events that lead to theories about aliens, the paranormal, and beyond. Using the basic tenets of the scientific method to take on everything from eyewitness testimony to reported sightings of UFOs, Prothero and Callahan give an impressive challenge to even the most ardent believers in the unexplained.

If the truth is out there, UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens is your first step towards finding it.

Enter your name and email address below by 11:59 pm on Thursday, May 10 for your chance to win a copy of this compelling book. 

Daniel Duzdevich to speak at Columbia University Feb. 9

IUP author Daniel Duzdevich and Harvard University Press author James T. Costa will give a joint presentation on "Wallace and Darwin: Inspiration, Legacy, and the Origins of Evolutionary Theory" February 9 at 7 p.m. at Columbia University. The event is free and open to the public.

Duzdevich is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University, where he studies the interactions between DNA and proteins at the scale of individual molecules. He is author of Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Modern Rendition. Learn more about his book on our website.

Two IUP books win 2013 IndieFab Awards

We are pleased to announce that two of our books received 2013 IndieFab Awards (formerly known as the Book of the Year Awards) from Foreword Reviews. Reality Check by Donald R. Prothero was the silver winner in the Science category, and Pere Marie-Benoit and Jewish Rescue by Susan Zuccotti was the gold winner in the History category.

Representing hundreds of independent and university presses of all sizes, the winners were selected after months of editorial deliberation over more than 1,500 entries in 60 categories. These books exemplify the best work coming from today’s indie authors and publishers. View the complete list of 2013 IndieFab winners.

Three IUP books win Independent Publisher Book Awards

We are pleased to announce that three of our books have won 2014 Independent Publisher Awards (IPPY)!

The following books all received Gold in their respective categories:

World History: Pere Marie-Benoit and Jewish Rescue by Susan Zuccotti

Science: Sabertooth by Mauricio Anton

Transportation: Railroads and the American People by H. Roger Grant

The IPPY Awards, launched in 1996, are designed to bring increased recognition to the deserving but often unsung titles published by independent authors and publishers. Since the inaugural contest nearly 5,000 books have received IPPY Awards.

The awards will be presented May 28 in New York, on the eve of the BookExpo America convention.

Two IUP books selected as Foreword Book of the Year Award finalists

Last week, Foreword Reviews announced the finalists for its 2013 Book of the Year Awards. Two IUP books are on this distinguished list of indie authors and publishers whose groundbreaking work stands out from the crowd. Reality Check by Donald R. Prothero is a finalist in the Science category, and Pere Marie-Benoit and Jewish Rescue by Susan Zuccotti is a finalist in the History category.

In the next two months, a panel of more than 100 librarians and booksellers will determine the winners of these prestigious awards. A celebration of the winners will take place during the American Library Association Annual Conference in Las Vegas on Friday, June 27 at 6 p.m. with awards in over 60 categories, cash prizes for the best in fiction and nonfiction, and widespread recognition.

View the complete list of Foreword Reviews' 2013 Book of the Year Award finalists. Congratulations to our authors on receiving this honor!

Book Culture to host launch for Daniel Duzdevich's new book

Book Culture in New York City will host a launch party for Daniel Duzdevich's new book Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Modern Rendition February 25 at 7 p.m. Duzdevich will discuss how he transformed Darwin’s most famous book into a modern English rendering for today's readers. Learn more about the book on our website or in this podcast.

Podcast: Daniel Duzdevich discusses Darwin's On the Origin of Species

Charles Darwin’s most famous book On the Origin of Species is one of the most important books ever written, but it is also notoriously difficult to read. Daniel Duzdevich offers a clear, up-to-date English rendering of Darwin’s first edition in his new book Darwin's On the Origin of Species: A Modern Rendition. On this episode of the IU Press podcast, he discusses the process he went through to modernize Darwin's book for today's readers, yet still remain true to the original.

IUP author Alan Titus to introduce newest dinosaur

IUP author Dr. Alan Titus will introduce the newest dinosaur, the Lythronax, on Friday, February 7 at 7 p.m. This event will take place at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Kanab Visitor Center and is free and open to the public.

Copies of Titus's book At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah will also be available for sale and signing by the author during the event.