My 10 most read Springer Nature articles; "Wasted GDP in the USA" read 20.000+ times

According to Springer Nature, these are my most accessed Springer articles (prior rank refers to March 2025 list; as does prior number of accesses):  

1 (2). Wasted GDP in the USA (Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2023) 20.228 (14.297) 

2 (1). The Ethics of Laying Hen Genetics (Mia Fernyhough et al., Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 2019) 18.088 (14.986)  

3 (3). Umwelt Transitions: Uexküll and Environmental Change (Biosemiotics, 2009) 7.557 (6.175)    

4 (4). Phenomenology and Biosemiotics (Morten Tønnessen, Timo Maran & Alexei Sharov, Biosemiotics, 2018) 7.001 (5.675)    

5 (5). Jesper Hoffmeyer’s Biosemiotic Legacy (Morten Tønnessen, Alexei Sharov & Timo Maran, Biosemiotics, 2019) 4.890 (3.789)    

6 (6). Current Human Ecology in the Amazon and beyond: a Multi-Scale Ecosemiotic Approach (Biosemiotics, 2020) 4.782 (3.673)   

7 (7). Towards Synthesis of Biology and Semiotics (Alexei Sharov, Timo Maran & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2015) 3.891 (3.022)

8 (9). Comprehending the Semiosis of Evolution (Alexei Sharov, Timo Maran & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2016) 3.602 (2.892) 

9 (-) Introduction to the special issue "Umwelt theory and phenomenology" (Carlo Brentari & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2024) 3.589

10 (8). Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the Year 2020 (Claudio Julio Rodríguez Higuera & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2021) 3.383 (2.908) 

"Making the Umwelt Bubble of the Modern Synthesis Burst" (Biosemiotics, 2021), with its 3.112 accesses (2.552), is thus out of the list, while "The evolutionary origin(s) of the Umwelt" (Biosemiotics, 2022), with 3.344 accesses, did not quite make the top 10. Altogether Springer Nature lists 24 publications of mine with a total of ca. 94.700 accesses and some 281 registered citations. The top 10 accounts for 76.536 accesses.

See also:

My 10 most read Springer Nature articles; ca. 60.000 accesses in total (March 2025)

"My 10 most accessed articles with Springer Nature; ca. 44.000 accesses combined" (November 2023)

#49

Today I have had an article writing day, with some 600 words added to the environmental semiotics chapter I am co-writing with Jonathan Beever. This was writing day #49 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with a total of 17,5 of the writing days devoted to article writing to date. 

#30

Today I have had half an article writing day, with some 100 words added to the chapter "Environmental semiotics", which I co-write with Jonathan Beever for Springer´s Handbook of environmental philosophy.  This was writing day #30 this Autumn (starting July 1st), with 2 days devoted to article writing days so far.

Overview of membership in editorial boards

I am currently a member of the editorial board of six academic journals:

– Biosemiotics (Springer) 

– Eikon – Journal on Semiotics and Visual Culture (Universidade da Beira Interior, Portugal) 

– Environmental and Sustainability Indicators (Elsevier) 

– Journal of Quality-of-Life Studies (JQoLS) (UPM Press, Malaysia) 

– TRACE ∴ Finnish Journal for Human-Animal Studies (Finnish Society for Human-Animal Studies) 

– Politics and Animals (Lund University, Sweden)

"Semiotic agency" book now my most cited text

On Google Scholar´s count, the book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism (official publication year 2021, but appeared only in 2022), which I co-wrote with Alexei Sharov, has now overtaken "Umwelt transitions: Uexküll and environmental change" (published 2009 as the key article in my ph.d. work) as my most cited research publication (with 102 vs. 101 citations overall, and 10 vs. 2 so far this year).

See my profile in Google Scholar.

My 10 most read Springer Nature articles; ca. 60.000 accesses in total

According to Springer Nature, these are my most accessed Springer articles:

1 (1). The Ethics of Laying Hen Genetics (Mia Fernyhough et al., Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 2019) 14.986 (12.924)  

2 (3). Wasted GDP in the USA (Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2023) 14.297 (5.144)  

3 (2). Umwelt Transitions: Uexküll and Environmental Change (Biosemiotics, 2009) 6.175 (5.155)  

4 (4). Phenomenology and Biosemiotics (Morten Tønnessen, Timo Maran & Alexei Sharov, Biosemiotics, 2018) 5.675 (4.648)  

5 (5). Jesper Hoffmeyer’s Biosemiotic Legacy (Morten Tønnessen, Alexei Sharov & Timo Maran, Biosemiotics, 2019) 3.789 (3.279)  

6 (6). Current Human Ecology in the Amazon and beyond: a Multi-Scale Ecosemiotic Approach (Biosemiotics, 2020) 3.673 (3.041) 

7 (7). Towards Synthesis of Biology and Semiotics (Alexei Sharov, Timo Maran & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2015) 3.022 (2.672)  

8 (8). Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the Year 2020 (Claudio Julio Rodríguez Higuera & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2021) 2.908 (2.644)  

9 (9). Comprehending the Semiosis of Evolution (Alexei Sharov, Timo Maran & Morten Tønnessen, Biosemiotics, 2016) 2.892 (2.546)  

10 (10). Making the Umwelt Bubble of the Modern Synthesis Burst (Biosemiotics, 2021) 2.552 (2.131)  

Combined these 10 articles have been accessed 59.969 times to date (vs. 44.184 as of November 2023, meaning they have been accessed a total of 15.785 times over the last one and a half year or so). My two most read articles account for almost half of the total of the top 10 articles, and "Wasted GDP in the USA" accounts for more than half of my top 10 article reads since November 2023. 

I gave a similar overview in the post "My 10 most accessed articles with Springer Nature; ca. 44.000 accesses combined" (November 2023). Changes in ranking and number of accesses are shown above.

See also:

"Wasted GDP in the USA" reaches 12.000 accesses (September 2024)

The 39 most read texts on my ResearchGate profile (July 2023)

 Webstats, Scribd: 14 documents with 1,000+ reads (January 2014)

"Mars and the Earthlings" book published; co-author of three chapters; references

The book Mars and the Earthlings. A realistic view on Mars exploration and settlement was published earlier this month. I have co-authored three chapters. The official copyright year is 2024. These are my first publications in astrobiology proper.

References:

— Elias Chatzitheodoridis, Philippe Clerc, Akos Kereszturi, Nigel Mason, Erik Persson, Carmen Possnig, Lucie Poulet, Mikko Puumala, Oskari Sivula, John Robert Brucato, Laetitia Cesari, Gisela Detrell, Ondřej Ditrych, Teresa Fornaro, Barbara Gonçalves, Christoph Gross, Maria Hedlund, Mahulena Hofmann, Alexandros Krassakis, Natuschka M. Lee, Kirsi Lehto, Andrea Meneghin, Lena Noack, Patrick Rückert, Nikola Schmidt, Stefan Selke, Mikko Tikkanen, Morten Tønnessen & Kirsten Tracht 2024. Towards Permanent Settlements on Mars (from 1000 to 100,000 People). Pp. 253–339 (chapter 8) in Cyprien Verseux, Muriel Gargaud, Kirsi Lehto & Michel Viso (eds.), Mars and the Earthlings. A realistic view on Mars exploration and settlement (Space and Society). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66881-4_8  

— Francois Forget, Perrine Barthomeuf, Oskari Sivula, Caroline Freissinet, Natuschka M. Lee, Nicolas Mangold, Erik Persson & Morten Tønnessen 2024. Mars as a Planet B? Pp. 341–366 (chapter 9) in Cyprien Verseux, Muriel Gargaud, Kirsi Lehto & Michel Viso (eds.), Mars and the Earthlings. A realistic view on Mars exploration and settlement (Space and Society). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66881-4_9  

— Mikko Puumala, Oskari Sivula, Jacques Arnould, Klara-Anna Capova, Ondřej Ditrych, David Dunér, Natuschka M. Lee, Tony Milligan, Erik Persson, Nikola Schmidt & Morten Tønnessen 2024. Mars Historical and Ethical Context: Past, Present, and Imagination. Pp. 85–98 (chapter 4) in Cyprien Verseux, Muriel Gargaud, Kirsi Lehto & Michel Viso (eds.), Mars and the Earthlings. A realistic view on Mars exploration and settlement (Space and Society). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-66881-4_4 

"Mars and the Earthlings" book near completion; to be submitted to publisher; co-author of three chapters

The manuscript for the book Mars and the Earthlings. A realistic view on Mars exploration and settlement is approaching completion and will be submitted to Springer this week. I will be credited as a co-author of three chapters, cf. below. Altogether 61 experts have co-authored the book.

Updated preliminary reference:

— forthcoming, 2024. Mars and the Earthlings. A realistic view on Mars exploration and settlement (eds. C. Verseux, M. Gargaud, K. Lehto & M. Viso). Co-author of chapter 4 (“Mars Historical and ethical context: Past, present and imagination”), chapter 8 (“Toward permanent settlements on Mars (from 1000 to 100 000 people)”), chapter 9 (“Mars as a planet B?”). Springer. Planned publication 2024.

Chapter "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis" published

My book chapter "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis" has now been published, as part of the book Elemental-Embodied Thinking for a New Era (eds. Lenart Škof, Sashinungla, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir).

Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten 2024. A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis. Pp. 99–117 in Lenart Škof, Sashinungla, Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir (eds.), Elemental-Embodied Thinking for a New Era (Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures 42). Springer. Published May 4th 2024.

Publication date announced for book "Elemental-embodied thinking for a new era"

The book Elemental-Embodied Thinking for a New Era, edited by Lenart Skof, Sashinungla, and Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir, where I contribute with the chapter "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis", now has a new planned publication date, May 30th, according to Springer´s website for the book.

Book chapter "Nosology and Semiotics" published

The book Organ Crosstalk in Acute Kidney Injury: Basic Concepts and Clinical Practices, with my introductory chapter "Nosology and Semiotics", was published online yesterday.

Reference:

Tønnessen, Morten 2023. Nosology and Semiotics. In Carlo Guido Musso & Adrian Covic (eds.), Organ Crosstalk in Acute Kidney Injury: Basic Concepts and Clinical Practices, pp. 1–24. Cham: Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36789-2_1 

To contribute to book "Mars and the Earthlings"

I have agreed to contribute with parts of a co-written chapter for the book Mars and the Earthlings, which is intended for the Springer book series Space and Society. I am tasked with covering experiential and behavioral challenges with settling on Mars.

#26,5 - chapter "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis" finished

Today I have had a writing day, with some 2.300 words added to my chapter "A biosemiotic perspective on the human condition and the environmental crisis", which I have now finished, and submitted to the anthology editors. 

This is the most productive writing day so far this Spring by words written. Number of writing days this Spring is up to 26,5.

***

Abstract:

This chapter presents a biosemiotic perspective on the basic situation for human beings and that of other organisms, with an emphasis on the subjective experience of sentient animals, and the sign use of all lifeforms. The human condition is portrayed as traditionally conceived, and then revisited in the new context of the current environmental crisis. A cornerstone of the text is an analysis of the materiality of the environmental crisis, and how the massive changes humans have caused in the physical environment can be understood in light of the semiotic agency of humans and other living beings. Experiential aspects of the environmental crisis are highlighted. The aim of the text is to improve our understanding of our species´ place in the natural world, our historical role in causing a global crisis for life, and how we can move forward towards a more sustainable future. 

Not received printed book from publisher Springer Nature

Almost 3 months after the publication of our book Semiotic agency - science beyond mechanism, and several inquiries, I still haven't received my printed copy of the book from the publisher, Springer Nature. I am now trying to order it via my employer. Needless to say, I think this is poor author service from Springer´s side.

Book "Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism" published

On Wednesday I was informed by Springer that the book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism, which I have co-written (as second author) with Alexei Sharov, has been published. On that day this did not appear to be the case judging by the book´s webpage, which was unchanged, with no sales links. By Thursday, however, info online was updated, and the book can now be bought in Hardcover version (109.99 Euro) or eBook version (93.08 Euro).

The book is said to be part of the following eBook packages (for institutional subscribers):

• Biomedical and Life Sciences
• Biomedical and Life Sciences (RO)

Chapters can also be bought individually (24.95 Euro) - preview (freely available) includes abstract and references:

Introduction

Historical overview of developments of notions of agency

Human agency

Agency in non-human organisms

Origins of life

Conceptualizing agency

Semiosis

Semiogenesis

Phenomenology

Composite agency

Human agency and ecology

Agentology: Crosspollination of science and philosophy

Two PDF files of significance can freely be accessed online:

• Front matter (pp. i-xxiii), which includes Preface, Acknowledgements, table of contents, List of figures, and List of tables
• Back matter (pages 349-372), which includes Glossary and Index

The book is volume no. 25 in the Biosemiotics book series.

On Amazon publication date is now said to be February 9th (2 days ago). The price here is $139.99 for Hardcover version. Kindle version is available for $29.55 for rent, or $114.16 for sale. Kindle version is said to be 687 pages long.

I am still waiting to receive print copy as well as eBook version personally.

New release date for book "Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism"

After several unexplained delays, Springer has now informed that the new release date for our book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism is January 21st 2022 (it was first scheduled to appear at some point in November 2021).

#19

Today I have had an article writing day devoted to proof-reading chunks of our forthcoming book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism, with some 100 words added to the manuscript in the process. Number of writing days this autumn is up to 19.

Book "Semiotic agency" to be published in November

The book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism, which I have co-written with Alexei Sharov, will be published in November, according to Springer. Information will soon appear online.

Meeting of the editorial board of Biosemiotics chaired

Today, after the conclusion of the 20th Gathering in Biosemiotics, I chaired the annual editorial board meeting of Biosemiotics. The meeting was divided into a first open part and a second closed part for editorial board members only. Some 40 people followed the first half on Zoom, whereas 12 editorial board members followed the second part.

Four meetings

Today I have attended the faculty leadership group meeting, the staff meeting at Department of social studies, a new routinely research administration meeting, and an Editor-in-Chief meeting with our Springer editorial contact addressing strategy and recruitment for the journal Biosemiotics.