Gavin Pretor-Pinney

Discusses the history, types, and cultural fascination with clouds and explains what they mean in terms of climate and weather.

The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds

The Cloudspotter's Guide

Cloud a Day

The wavewatcher's companion

This title teaches readers to appreciate the different varieties of clouds - the cumulus, nimbostratus and Morning Glory - and all their beauties and significances, both meteorological and cultural.

The cloudspotter's guide

All the common cloud types are represented, as are many of the rare ones, each fully described and illustrated with a range of photos.

The Cloud Collector's Handbook

Guia do Observador de Nuvens

Bulut Gozlemcisinin Rehberi - Ciltli

¡Qué aburrida sería la vida si tuviéramos que sufrir monótonos cielos despejados día tras día! Según mantiene este insólito libro, primera publicación oficial de la Sociedad de Apreciación de las Nubes, dedicar unos minutos cada día a observar las nubes puede convertirse en una gran fuente de placer. En palabras del autor, «nada en la naturaleza puede competir con la variedad y el dramatismo de las nubes; nada está a la altura de su belleza sublime y efímera». Sus ideas principales se articulan en un breve y genial manifiesto: creemos que las nubes tienen, injustamente, mala reputación, y la vida sería incomparablemente más pobre sin ellas. Por ello, lucharemos contra la obligada preferencia por los cielos azules. La Guía del observador de nubes combina curiosidades, anécdotas y datos científicos, así como pinceladas sobre la relación de las nubes con la literatura, la iconografía religiosa o la mitología. No es un tratado meteorológico, aunque contiene información abundante, pues conocer las razones científicas de algo nos ayuda a disfrutarlo. En último término, esta guía supone la apasionada celebración de un pasatiempo despreocupado pero intensamente vital.

Guía del observador de nubes

una guida per i contemplatori di nuvole

Cloudspotting

The essential aid for everyday cloudspotting, from the author of the bestselling THE CLOUDSPOTTER'S GUIDE 'The perfect companion for a gloomy day' New Scientist 'Float away with this unstuffy guide to all things fluffy' Good Housekeeping THE CLOUD COLLECTOR'S HANDBOOK fits into pockets, allowing cloudspotters to identify cloud formations anytime and anywhere. All the common cloud types are represented, as are many of the rare ones, each fully described and illustrated with a range of photographs. Not only is THE CLOUD COLLECTOR'S HANDBOOK an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to be able to identify and understand every cloud that floats by, it also caters for the competitive cloudspotter. Points are awarded for each cloud type identified - the rarer the cloud, the greater points - and there's space to fill in where and when it was sighted. Beautifully designed, in colour throughout, and full of the humour that made THE CLOUDSPOTTER'S GUIDE so engaging, the HANDBOOK is the essential reference for anyone with their head in the clouds. PRAISE FOR THE CLOUDSPOTTER'S GUIDE 'A lovely book, the sort that everybody should have in the car or on the kitchen windowsill' Daily Telegraph 'Read this eye-opening and amusingly written book' Daily Mail 'His style is genial, his enthusiasm uplifting and his book is nothing less than a subtle but glorious mantra for a way of life' Metro

Cloudspotters Guide

William Grill

A beautifully illustrated guide to clouds and the sky for inspiring and educating curious minds with meteorological wonder. Renowned journalist, public speaker, and founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society Gavin Pretor-Pinney details the key facts and characteristics about each major cloud type. To accompany these scientific tidbits, William Grill’s gorgeous illustrations of vast colorful skies and mesmerizing cloud patterns create a calming, thought-provoking learning experience. From low-lying Stratus to high-flying Cirrus, Cloudspotting for Beginners covers how clouds are formed, the altitudes they prefer, the curious shapes they take, how they affect other meterological events, and more. The book breaks down the life and structure of a cloud on a molecular level, and then even expands on their interesting cross-planetary variations—for example, Jupiter’s clouds are composed of ammonia ice crystals and Saturn’s clouds congregate in an inexplicable hexagon around the planet's North Pole. Clouds require a fascinating amount of chemical precision in order to exist, yet they disappear and form again on a daily basis with ease. Cloudspotting for Beginners is a whimsical lesson on the oft-overlooked extraordinary lives of clouds that will serve as a gentle reminder to be present and observant in the face of impermanence. Just as informative as it is poetic and peaceful, this is the perfect guide for cloud appreciators and sky lovers.

Cloudspotting for Beginners

Cloudspotter and bestselling author Gavin Pretor-Pinney delivers a moment of calm atmospheric contemplation to members of his Cloud Appreciation Society by sharing a cloud image and story every day. A Cloud a Day urges all of us to keep our heads in the clouds with 365 fascinating formations from his extraordinarily popular Cloud Appreciation Society collection. Inspirational quotes and informative cloud facts accompany provocative and meditative images of the sky, encouraging readers to pause for a moment and look up. A beautifully illustrated book, A Cloud a Day makes a wonderful gift for dedicated or erstwhile cloudspotters—as for any of us with our heads lost in them.

A Cloud a Day

A cloudspotter's interactive journal. Our interest in clouds is more profound than we ever thought. Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society and author of A Cloud A Day has been spreading the word via social media and hugely popular TED talks, and the response has been revelatory. Following on from his very successful A Cloud A Day book, he wants readers to take time each day to look at the shifting skies. To take a moment, as he says. Then, using the prompts and space in the journal, record the cloud, weather, and importantly their thoughts on that day. It is the perfect mindful occupation. To help readers understand the clouds they are looking at, the book includes a hugely useful pin wheel device – a cloud selector – at the back of the journal. The device allows the reader to visually match the cloud they see in the sky with the cloud in the selector device, which has all the information about that particular cloud they need. From the cloudlets of the altocumulus clouds to the rarer Lacunosus cloud (holes surrounded by fringes of cloud). In amongst the prompts and spaces are stunning images of clouds with bits of poetry, science and folklore. It is the ideal interactive journal for those interested in clouds and the weather but also for those looking for the perfect way to spend 10 minutes of the day to reconnect with nature and the passing of the seasons. Praise for A Cloud A Day: '[This] charming little volume reminds us that self-care is as available as a glance out the window, no matter your age or infirmities' The New York Times ‘A confident celebration of our ever-changing skies... I defy anyone who reads it not to start taking furtive peeks out the window.’ Robert Leigh-Pemberton, Daily Telegraph

A Cloud a Day Journal

A Pig with Six Legs and Other Clouds

Clouds in the shape of dolphins, elephants, UFOs, even Alfred Hitchcock and Andy Murray...A feast for all cloud-appreciators with a sense of humour - a collection of stunning photos of clouds in the shape of surprising things.

From the Cloud Appreciation Society

Clouds That Look Like Things

A confident celebration of our ever-changing skies... I defy anyone who reads it not to start taking furtive peeks out the window.

A Cloud A Day

One bright February afternoon on a beach in Cornwall, Gavin Pretor-Pinney took a break from cloudspotting and started watching the waves rolling into shore. Mesmerised, he wondered where they had come from, and decided to find out. He soon realised that waves don't just appear on the ocean, they are everywhere around us, and our lives depend on them. From the rippling beats of our hearts, to the movement of food through our digestive tracts and of signals across our brains, waves are the transport systems of our bodies. Everything we see and hear reaches us via light and sound waves, and our information age is reliant on the microwaves and infrared waves used by the telephone and internet infrastructure. From shockwaves unleashed by explosions to torsional waves that cause suspension bridges to collapse, from sonar waves that allow submarines to 'see' with sound to Mexican waves that sweep through stadium crowds... there were waves, it seemed, wherever Gavin looked. But what, he wondered, could they all have in common with ones we splash around in on holiday? By the time he made the ultimate surfer's pilgrimage to Hawaii, Gavin had become a world-class wavewatcher, although he was still rubbish at surfing. And, while this fascinating, funny book may not teach you how to ride the waves, it will show you how to tune into the shapes, colours and forms of life's many undulations.

Gavin Pretor-Pinney

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