Clouds

by Eric M. Wilcox, Gavin Pretor-Pinney (Foreword)

At some time or other, we all like to reawaken our inner child by gazing dreamily up at the clouds, feeding our imagination as we stare at their varied shapes, and seeking inspiration from their beauty. Clouds celebrates these natural splendors with some of the most spectacular images ever taken; at the same time, it serves as a practical aid that helps us identify every type, from the cottony, fluffy ones to others that glower and threaten as a storm rides in.
With a chapter devoted to each category, from cirrus to cumulonimbus, this splendid volume reveals how, exquisite or portentous, clouds are vital to the planet’s climatic regulation. They’re the way the atmosphere expresses its mood, and its many different aspects appear in dramatic images that set you right in the sky where you can see everything from cloud cells to ice crystals to streaks of lightning close-up.
At the back of the book, a detailed visual glossary explains the development of weather systems and clouds in particular.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

244 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and fluffy visual survey of the major cloud designations of meteorology aiming at an audience with no prior knowledge. The photos are the best part, managing to convey the beauties of the more subtle formations as well as the drama of cumulonimbus, mammatus and co. At the back a more detailed technical description of how and where the various cloud types form is given along with a discussion of the more common atmospheric optical phenomena (rainbows and halos) that should be comprehensible to anybody with the desire to read the book in the first place.

[Des Cannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sublime treatment of a sublime subject, but for one almost unforgivable & glaring omission. Kelvin Helmholz Clouds, the most mysterious & most beautiful of all IMHO!

https://www.google.ie/search?q=kelvin...

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential dreamer's handbook

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super book, great photographs and scientific explanations.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved that this book made me look more closely at the clouds this morning. Beautiful!