AUGUST 21, 2007

Science meets whimsy in this illuminating
book about clouds

NONFICTION: The Cloudspotter's Guide

Children, poets, and dreamers all know the immeasurable pleasure of gazing up at a sky dotted with fluffy clouds. They can be white, fanciful puffs, sunset-soaked pink billows, or threatening gray, destructive masses, and a dozen permutations beyond. In 2004 Gavin Pretor-Pinney, a cloud lover since childhood who was tired of the way clouds were so often used as metaphors for doom, founded the Cloud Appreciation Society. His book The Cloudspotter’s Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds is an informative and fun guide to one of nature’s special effects.

The book chattily explains each of the 10 classifications of clouds and has dozens of glossy photographs and illustrations featuring classical and pop-cultural references (lava lamps!). And it uses easy-to-digest, witty language that imparts facts that even the science-challenged will appreciate.

Now by popular demand, Venn diagrams and charts with links! Click above for more info.

The Cloudspotter’s Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds (Perigee Trade; 320 pages; paperback)

The Cloud Appreciation Society

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