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The Cloudspotter's Guide
Where do clouds come from? Why do they look the way they do? And why have they captured the imagination of timeless artists, Romantic poets, and every kid who's ever held a crayon? Veteran journalist and lifelong sky watcher Gavin Pretor-Pinney reveals everything there is to know about clouds, from history and science to art and pop culture. Cumulus, nimbostratus, and the dramatic and surfable Morning Glory cloud are just a few of the varieties explored in this smart, witty, and eclectic tour through the skies. Illustrated with striking photographs (including a new section in full-color) and line drawings featuring everything from classical paintings to lava lamps, The Cloudspotter's Guide will have enthusiasts, weather watchers, and the just plain curious floating on cloud nine.
320 pages, eBook
First published January 1, 2006
628 people are currently reading
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About the author
Gavin Pretor-Pinney
22 books67 followersGavin Pretor-Pinney is cofounder of The Idler magazine in England and founded of The Cloud Appreciation Society in 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 381 reviews
September 26, 2011
The challenge of science writing is making an abstract description of the motion of water particles relevant to a monkey whose language evolved to tell other monkeys where the ripe fruit is. Pretor-Pinney has managed to do something I'd have bet was impossible: make clouds interesting. Before I read this book, clouds were a mess of undifferentiated Latin words and undifferentiated puffy shit in the sky. Now I look up and see physics made incarnate. It's like I've been given a superpower. Now *that's* science writing!
The author pulls off this improbable task by finding a hook to hang each cloud from. None are as mind-boggling as the second chapter, cumulo-nimbus, where the hook is a pilot who had to bail from an experimental airplane ... through one of those monster thunderhead storm clouds. The conditions he experienced inside the cloud are the tangible manifestation of the physics behind the scenes.
With headings like "how it feels to be a hailstone" and a look at the Renaissance representations of clouds in art, he manages to take his subject seriously while never losing track of the mystery and wonder that causes people to look at clouds in the first place. Highly recommended.
The author pulls off this improbable task by finding a hook to hang each cloud from. None are as mind-boggling as the second chapter, cumulo-nimbus, where the hook is a pilot who had to bail from an experimental airplane ... through one of those monster thunderhead storm clouds. The conditions he experienced inside the cloud are the tangible manifestation of the physics behind the scenes.
Ten minutes into his descent, Rankin should have been reaching the ground, but the enormous draughts of air that surged up the core of the cloud were retarding his fall. Soon the turbulence became much more severe. He had no visual point of reference in the gloomy depths but he sensed that, rather than falling, he was being shot upwards with successive violent gusts of rising air–blasts that were becoming increasingly violent. And then for the first time he felt the full force of the cloud.
‘It came with incredible suddenness–and fury. It hit me like a tidal wave of air, a massive blast, fired at me with the savagery of a cannon…I went soaring up and up and up as though there would be no end to its force.’ Rankin wasn’t the only one being hurled up and down. In the darkness around him, hundreds of thousands of hailstones were suffering the same fate. One minute they were falling downwards, dragging air down with them; the next minute, they were swept back up by the enormous convection currents within the cloud.
With this falling and rising, the hailstones picked up freezing water and grew in size, hardening layer by layer like gobstoppers. These rocks of ice pelted Rankin with bruising force. He was now vomiting from the violent spinning and pounding and he shut his eyes, unable to watch the nightmare unfolding. At one point, however, he did open them to find himself looking down a long black tunnel burrowing through the centre of the cloud. ‘This was nature’s bedlam,’ he said, ‘an ugly black cage of screaming, violent, fanatical lunatics…beating me with big flat sticks, roaring at me, screeching, trying to crush me or rip me with their hands.’ Then the lightning and thunder began.
The lightning appeared as huge, blue blades, several feet thick, which felt as though they were slicing him in two. The booming claps of thunder, caused by the explosive expansion of the air as the enormous electrical charge passed through, were so overpowering up close that they were more like physical impacts than noises. ‘I didn’t hear the thunder,’ he said, ‘I felt it.’ Sometimes he had to hold his breath to avoid drowning from the dense torrents of freezing rain. At one point he looked up just as a bolt of lightning passed behind his parachute. It lit up the canvas, which appeared to the exhausted pilot as an enormous, white-domed cathedral. As the image lingered above him, he thought that he had finally died.
With headings like "how it feels to be a hailstone" and a look at the Renaissance representations of clouds in art, he manages to take his subject seriously while never losing track of the mystery and wonder that causes people to look at clouds in the first place. Highly recommended.
January 23, 2011
This book ranks high amongst those that have influenced my life. I am now constantly looking at clouds, trying to figure out what they are, how they were formed, where they are going, what weather they will cause.
Beautifully written, Pretor-Pinney makes poetry out of clouds; he waxes eloquently on a subject he is clearly intensely passionate about. To make that passion so infectious is a gift.
I am a geographer, also passionate about much of earth science, and have read many books on a range of earth-science related topics. This is one of the few that ranks as a literary work. It is a perfect mix of science, fable and wonder.
Read it. Open your eyes and mind to the skies above.
Beautifully written, Pretor-Pinney makes poetry out of clouds; he waxes eloquently on a subject he is clearly intensely passionate about. To make that passion so infectious is a gift.
I am a geographer, also passionate about much of earth science, and have read many books on a range of earth-science related topics. This is one of the few that ranks as a literary work. It is a perfect mix of science, fable and wonder.
Read it. Open your eyes and mind to the skies above.
September 8, 2018
Growing up I remember laying on the grass and gazing up at the big puffy clouds as they drifted across the sky. Even now when I go back home (Utah), I'm amazed at how much more dramatic the sky often seems compared to where I currently live. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon how you look at it), Los Angeles seems to have rather boring skies - clear and blue, day after day after day. Except for those darn jet contrails...
This was a very pleasant book that looks at 10 main cloud types. Pretor-Pinney discusses the different variations and how they form, and he does it all in a very casual manner - no stuffy textbook here! The book is loaded with anecdotes and amusing asides, which made it a charming read but also a little tedious at times. And he can find the silver lining of any cloud, even the heavy and oppressive nimbostratus. And yes, he even discusses those darn jet contrails, the man-made cloud graffiti on the heavens. In fact, he discusses it at great length; not just the environmental aspects and why they seem to linger longer than they used to, but he takes that topic down a rabbit hole about cloud seeding. Overall, a charming and pleasant if occasionally meandering book - the kind you want to own so you can pull it out every once in a while. (3.5 stars)
This was a very pleasant book that looks at 10 main cloud types. Pretor-Pinney discusses the different variations and how they form, and he does it all in a very casual manner - no stuffy textbook here! The book is loaded with anecdotes and amusing asides, which made it a charming read but also a little tedious at times. And he can find the silver lining of any cloud, even the heavy and oppressive nimbostratus. And yes, he even discusses those darn jet contrails, the man-made cloud graffiti on the heavens. In fact, he discusses it at great length; not just the environmental aspects and why they seem to linger longer than they used to, but he takes that topic down a rabbit hole about cloud seeding. Overall, a charming and pleasant if occasionally meandering book - the kind you want to own so you can pull it out every once in a while. (3.5 stars)
January 9, 2010
Hey, I finally finished this book! It's been my bathroom read for, what...one year?
So *mild spoiler* on p. 261 of this paperback, there is a picture of a bunch of scientists from General Electric labs (circa 1946) peering over a cloud seeding chamber. One of them, the book casually mentions, is named Bernard Vonnegut. If you're like me, part of you continues reading, and the other part of your brain goes, "*Bernard* Vonnegut?! And he looks like Kurt Vonnegut! I wonder if they're related!" Well, this is the kind of author who tells you (six pages later) that oh yes, by the way, that was Kurt's brother AND Kurt worked at GE Labs for a brief time in the PR Dept. ...AND the chemical process in Cat's Cradle bears a strong resemblance to the actual process of cloud seeding that Bernard was working on. I was giddy with glee by that point. *end mild spoiler*
This author goes off on many interesting asides, and interjects a lot of his own personal warmth and humor into what could be a very dry book on the wet woollies of the sky. And something tells me Gavin Pretor-Pinney would make an excellent quizzo player.
So *mild spoiler* on p. 261 of this paperback, there is a picture of a bunch of scientists from General Electric labs (circa 1946) peering over a cloud seeding chamber. One of them, the book casually mentions, is named Bernard Vonnegut. If you're like me, part of you continues reading, and the other part of your brain goes, "*Bernard* Vonnegut?! And he looks like Kurt Vonnegut! I wonder if they're related!" Well, this is the kind of author who tells you (six pages later) that oh yes, by the way, that was Kurt's brother AND Kurt worked at GE Labs for a brief time in the PR Dept. ...AND the chemical process in Cat's Cradle bears a strong resemblance to the actual process of cloud seeding that Bernard was working on. I was giddy with glee by that point. *end mild spoiler*
This author goes off on many interesting asides, and interjects a lot of his own personal warmth and humor into what could be a very dry book on the wet woollies of the sky. And something tells me Gavin Pretor-Pinney would make an excellent quizzo player.
November 19, 2012
Beberapa tahun lalu, kami berbaring berdampingan di atas rumput kering di atas sebuah bukit kecil. Kami meneliti dan sesekali menghitung awan ala kadarnya. Sebuah walkman memutar rekaman suara serangga saat musim panas. Rekaman itu dikirim oleh seseorang jauh di seberang sana yang selalu rutin setiap tahun mengirim satu kaset rekaman suara serangga. Kami sudah sering bilang bahwa di negara kami tak ada musim panas, hanya ada hari-hari panas dan gerah sepanjang tahunnya. Tapi orang di seberang itu menganggap keluhan kami sebagai sebuah peluang besar untuk mendapatkan orang-orang yang mau mendengarkan hasil kerja sampingannya sebagai perekam suara-suara alam. Dan anehnya, setiap rekaman itu datang kami selalu segera mendengarkannya dengan khusuk hinggga selesai.
Seseorang yang berbaring di sebelahku berkata "Lihat awan sebelah sana itu. Itu cumulus, awan berbentuk bunga brokoli di langit biru musim kemarau. Musim kemarau sepertinya membuat langit subur dengan cumulus."
Aku tersenyum. Mengangguk setuju.
"Untuk awan aku lebih menyukai nimbostratus. Awan yang menyelimuti langit menjadi kelabu dan menurunkan hujan tenang dan sangat lama, tanpa ada gemuruh suara guntur. Aku tak menyukai cumulonimbus dengang angin kencang, hujan deras bergemuruh dan tentu saja petir yang terus menyambar-nyambar. Cumulonimbus selalu berisik yang paling menjengkelkan."
Bagiku, stratus-lah yang paling kusukai. Awan terendah yang biasanya menyelimuti kotaku saat pagi yang sering disebut kabut. Awan yang turun perlahan saat malam karena udara dingin di bagian bawah, kemudian awan itu akan naik perlahan ke atas menjelang siang dan menjadi altostratus kalau mereka bisa berkumpul cukup banyak. Altostratus: Selimut putih cukup tebal yang membuat sinar matahari menjadi redup. Beberapa awan itu mungkin sebagian akan terus naik ke atas dan membentuk tirai putih tipis bernama cirrostratus. Stratus, altostratus, cirrostratus, beberapa selimut awan yang selalu bermain dengan ketinggian dan selalu bisa menggelitikku untuk mendongak.
"Hei! Kenapa kau diam saja?" orang di sampingku menoleh ke arahku.
"Menurutmu bagaimana dengan awan-awan yang lain?"
"Aku juga menyukai stratocumulus, awan itu seperti kumpulan cumulus yang berkerumun di sisi-sisi langit dan sedang membicarakan sesuatu dengan seru, mereka seperi sedang bergosip ria. Untuk altocomulus, selalu membuatku berpikir tentang biri-biri. Bulatan-bulatan awan itu membuatku bertanya siapakah yang menggembalakan mereka di padang langit saat mereka muncul. Kemudian cirrocumulus, selalu seperti hasil seseorang kurang kerjaan yang menaburkan butiran-butiran gandum di hamparan langit," Dia mengeluarkan buku dari kantung celananya. Membalik beberapa halaman, mencoba mencari sesuatu. "Dan cirrus," dia membaca yang ada di buku catatannya, "awan yang selalu seperti goresan vertikal lembut sebuah kuas yang menghasilkan lengkung-lengkung indah rangkaian dinginnya kristas-kristal es. Awan yang membuat langit seperti kanvas dan selalu menyediakan hamparannya untuk menampung setiap polesan." Dia menutup bukunya. Suara rekaman serangga masih terdengar.
"Kau sudah menemukan nama untuk tempat imajinasimu?"
Dia menggeleng. "Tapi aku menciptakan sesuatu yang baru di sana."
"Mahluk baru lagi?"
"Bukan. Aku menumbuhkan sebatang dandelion. Dandelion itu sangat besar sehingga setiap bijinya bisa dinaiki oleh siapapun. Setiap tahun akan kupilih beberapa mahluk dan mereka harus menaiki bunga dandelion yang sudah akan mengering. Saat ada angin berhembus maka mereka yang kupilih akan terbang menaiki biji dandelion yang tertiup angin. Di manapun mereka mendarat, mereka akan bertemu jodoh mereka dan mereka akan hidup bahagia selamanya."
"Terdengar seperti pengusiran yang sopan."
"Aku hanya ingin mereka bahagia."
Jeda cukup lama. Aku masih memikirkan kenapa dia masih belum bisa menemukan nama untuk tempat imajinasinya. Sebuah tempat berkumpulnya mahluk-mahluk merana dan kesepian ciptaannya.
"Sudah ada pilihan namakah?"
"Mungkin lebih baik tempat itu tak bernama. Tanpa nama tempat itu akan mudah untuk dilupakan. Mereka yang meninggalkan tempat itu pasti bisa cepat lupa kalau mereka pernah tinggal di sana."
Sebuah jeda, lebih lama.
Suara rekaman serangga berhenti. Kami berdiri lalu berjalan menuruni bukit. Di bagian bawah bukit, dia tiba-tiba duduk, menyisihkan rambut hitam panjangnya yang menutupi wajahnya ke telinga. Dia mendekatkan wajahnya ke bunga dandelion. Satu tiupan dan bunga itu berhamburan gembira menelusuri hembusan nafasnya. Dia tersenyum.
Kami pulang.
Dan mungkin aku adalah salah satu mahluk ciptaannya yang selalu menolak untuk pergi dari tempat imajinasinya yang tak bernama.
Selamanya.
Aku pun tersenyum.
Seseorang yang berbaring di sebelahku berkata "Lihat awan sebelah sana itu. Itu cumulus, awan berbentuk bunga brokoli di langit biru musim kemarau. Musim kemarau sepertinya membuat langit subur dengan cumulus."
Aku tersenyum. Mengangguk setuju.
"Untuk awan aku lebih menyukai nimbostratus. Awan yang menyelimuti langit menjadi kelabu dan menurunkan hujan tenang dan sangat lama, tanpa ada gemuruh suara guntur. Aku tak menyukai cumulonimbus dengang angin kencang, hujan deras bergemuruh dan tentu saja petir yang terus menyambar-nyambar. Cumulonimbus selalu berisik yang paling menjengkelkan."
Bagiku, stratus-lah yang paling kusukai. Awan terendah yang biasanya menyelimuti kotaku saat pagi yang sering disebut kabut. Awan yang turun perlahan saat malam karena udara dingin di bagian bawah, kemudian awan itu akan naik perlahan ke atas menjelang siang dan menjadi altostratus kalau mereka bisa berkumpul cukup banyak. Altostratus: Selimut putih cukup tebal yang membuat sinar matahari menjadi redup. Beberapa awan itu mungkin sebagian akan terus naik ke atas dan membentuk tirai putih tipis bernama cirrostratus. Stratus, altostratus, cirrostratus, beberapa selimut awan yang selalu bermain dengan ketinggian dan selalu bisa menggelitikku untuk mendongak.
"Hei! Kenapa kau diam saja?" orang di sampingku menoleh ke arahku.
"Menurutmu bagaimana dengan awan-awan yang lain?"
"Aku juga menyukai stratocumulus, awan itu seperti kumpulan cumulus yang berkerumun di sisi-sisi langit dan sedang membicarakan sesuatu dengan seru, mereka seperi sedang bergosip ria. Untuk altocomulus, selalu membuatku berpikir tentang biri-biri. Bulatan-bulatan awan itu membuatku bertanya siapakah yang menggembalakan mereka di padang langit saat mereka muncul. Kemudian cirrocumulus, selalu seperti hasil seseorang kurang kerjaan yang menaburkan butiran-butiran gandum di hamparan langit," Dia mengeluarkan buku dari kantung celananya. Membalik beberapa halaman, mencoba mencari sesuatu. "Dan cirrus," dia membaca yang ada di buku catatannya, "awan yang selalu seperti goresan vertikal lembut sebuah kuas yang menghasilkan lengkung-lengkung indah rangkaian dinginnya kristas-kristal es. Awan yang membuat langit seperti kanvas dan selalu menyediakan hamparannya untuk menampung setiap polesan." Dia menutup bukunya. Suara rekaman serangga masih terdengar.
"Kau sudah menemukan nama untuk tempat imajinasimu?"
Dia menggeleng. "Tapi aku menciptakan sesuatu yang baru di sana."
"Mahluk baru lagi?"
"Bukan. Aku menumbuhkan sebatang dandelion. Dandelion itu sangat besar sehingga setiap bijinya bisa dinaiki oleh siapapun. Setiap tahun akan kupilih beberapa mahluk dan mereka harus menaiki bunga dandelion yang sudah akan mengering. Saat ada angin berhembus maka mereka yang kupilih akan terbang menaiki biji dandelion yang tertiup angin. Di manapun mereka mendarat, mereka akan bertemu jodoh mereka dan mereka akan hidup bahagia selamanya."
"Terdengar seperti pengusiran yang sopan."
"Aku hanya ingin mereka bahagia."
Jeda cukup lama. Aku masih memikirkan kenapa dia masih belum bisa menemukan nama untuk tempat imajinasinya. Sebuah tempat berkumpulnya mahluk-mahluk merana dan kesepian ciptaannya.
"Sudah ada pilihan namakah?"
"Mungkin lebih baik tempat itu tak bernama. Tanpa nama tempat itu akan mudah untuk dilupakan. Mereka yang meninggalkan tempat itu pasti bisa cepat lupa kalau mereka pernah tinggal di sana."
Sebuah jeda, lebih lama.
Suara rekaman serangga berhenti. Kami berdiri lalu berjalan menuruni bukit. Di bagian bawah bukit, dia tiba-tiba duduk, menyisihkan rambut hitam panjangnya yang menutupi wajahnya ke telinga. Dia mendekatkan wajahnya ke bunga dandelion. Satu tiupan dan bunga itu berhamburan gembira menelusuri hembusan nafasnya. Dia tersenyum.
Kami pulang.
Dan mungkin aku adalah salah satu mahluk ciptaannya yang selalu menolak untuk pergi dari tempat imajinasinya yang tak bernama.
Selamanya.
Aku pun tersenyum.
October 16, 2010
This is one of those books you didn't think you wanted to or needed to read, but once you have, you're glad you did.
September 13, 2024
This is a pretty good guidebook and I cautiously recommend it if you are interested in learning a bit about clouds. I had notes, which I've lost. The book is variable. Some parts interesting, others dull. Have a look & judge for yourself.
June 2, 2025
Now, every day I get to look up at the sky and marvel at the clouds. This book achieved exactly what I wanted - it brought joy back into an overlooked aspect of life. Can’t recommend highly enough !!
November 14, 2012
This book takes each cloud type in turn and gives the details of what it typically looks like, where and when it can found and what type of precipitation (snow, heavy rain, hail, drizzle etc) it gives rise to. It also outlines some tips on weather forecasting by describing how one type of cloud can become another.
Alongside all the science the author makes it clear that clouds are to be appreciated for their beauty (apart perhaps from stratus, the low, dull, misty cloud that even the most ardent cloud appreciator has been known to describe as boring).
He also has plenty of stories to share about clouds, including that of Lt Col William Rankin a US Air Force pilot who had to eject from his plane above a storm cloud and spent 40 minutes being buffetted by the weather as he fell through a storm.
This is a totally fascinating book for anyone who is interested in our 'little fluffy friends' as Pretor-Pinney calls them. I think I'll need to read it a few times though before I can be sure of telling the difference between some of the cloud types let alone starting to forecast the weather!
Alongside all the science the author makes it clear that clouds are to be appreciated for their beauty (apart perhaps from stratus, the low, dull, misty cloud that even the most ardent cloud appreciator has been known to describe as boring).
He also has plenty of stories to share about clouds, including that of Lt Col William Rankin a US Air Force pilot who had to eject from his plane above a storm cloud and spent 40 minutes being buffetted by the weather as he fell through a storm.
This is a totally fascinating book for anyone who is interested in our 'little fluffy friends' as Pretor-Pinney calls them. I think I'll need to read it a few times though before I can be sure of telling the difference between some of the cloud types let alone starting to forecast the weather!
December 29, 2014
The poor attempts at being funny are successful only once in a while.
The random stories in each chapter starring a particular type of cloud are particularly uneventful and boring. It feels as if the author had to go great lengths to find cloud facts and cloud trivia worth mentioning, but in the end, really, I couldn't be bothered that this second-rate renaissance painter painted an altocumulus lenticularis in one of his otherwise unknown paintings 300 years ago; nor did it strike me as memorable to read some poet's declaration of love to the clouds (the author takes up that role with annoying rather than contagious enthusiasm).
Somewhere in between the yammering is a decent disquisition on the what, why & how of cloud types, species and varieties that is interesting but lacks the fluency required to be learnful, due to above mentioned interruptions.
Not the best book that could have been written on this topic.
The random stories in each chapter starring a particular type of cloud are particularly uneventful and boring. It feels as if the author had to go great lengths to find cloud facts and cloud trivia worth mentioning, but in the end, really, I couldn't be bothered that this second-rate renaissance painter painted an altocumulus lenticularis in one of his otherwise unknown paintings 300 years ago; nor did it strike me as memorable to read some poet's declaration of love to the clouds (the author takes up that role with annoying rather than contagious enthusiasm).
Somewhere in between the yammering is a decent disquisition on the what, why & how of cloud types, species and varieties that is interesting but lacks the fluency required to be learnful, due to above mentioned interruptions.
Not the best book that could have been written on this topic.
April 2, 2009
Good stuff, but tricky to put down and pick up. If I had a solid chunk of time to luxuriate in this, I am sure it would be 4 stars. Great information interspersed with engaging stories connected to clouds. I am still plowing along with great satisfaction.
--Caroline
--Caroline
December 23, 2020
I don't want to talk about it.
January 16, 2021
A true delight. Certainly not for everyone but merges meteorology, art history, poetry, and wonder into describing a topic most probably haven’t given a second thought towards.
July 22, 2023
¡Que maravilla de librito!
Lo compre hace muchos años cuando sentí mi primer arranque serio por conocer un poco mejor sobre las nubes.
En aquel entonces, como ahora, me rondaba este pensamiento: "te gusta observar las estrellas, pero a las estrellas en tu país no les gusta dejarse ver; o mejor, las nubes no te lo permiten. ¿Por qué no estudiar entonces las nubes para apreciarlas cuando no te dejen ver las estrellas?"
Cuando recientemente se me apareció en un atardecer un Stratocumulus lenticularis –como aprendí en este libro que se llamaban aquellas nubes en forma de platillos voladores de varios pisos que se forman a sotavento entre las montañas– recorde mi propósito de algunos años atrás. Desenterré el bendito librito y decidí comenzar a leerlo. Creo que ya lo había intentado, pero el esfuerzo no había prosperado seguramente porque eran los años en los que no lograba leer más de las 20 páginas que tenía un paper científico.
Lo que nunca imagine es que se tratará de un libro tan ilustrativo, tan bien escrito y tan deliciosamente divertido. La verdad creía que se trataría de una guía más, un simple libro de referencia para saber cómo ponerle nombres a las nubes.
Pero no.
"Guía del observador de nubes" del periodista inglés Gavin Pretor-Pinney es una declaración de amor al aire sobre nuestras cabezas. Un libro de viajes. Un texto de divulgación científica, con mucha física y pocos bostezos. Una guía para aquellas personas que disfrutamos mirar para arriba y deleitarnos con el espectáculo que ofrecen las nubes; o como diría Emerson –y citará Pretor-Pinney– "el extraordinario museo de las alturas". Un libro de historia y de historias sobre las nubes en diversas culturas, en la literatura, en los mitos.
Y también una guía para la identificación de nubes.
¿Se le podría pedir más a un libro sobre nubes?
Tampoco esperaba que el libro fuera algo así como el texto de referencia de los miembros de la Cloud appreciation society, una organización internacional con más de 50.000 miembros en todo el mundo, fundada por el mismo Pretor-Pinney (para las personas interesadas aquí está el sitio web de la sociedad) y que a lo largo de casi 20 años se ha convertido en la más grande organización de "nubofílicos" del planeta.
El libro se organiza alrededor de los 10 tipos de géneros de nubes reconocidos por la Organización Meteorológica Internacional. En cada capítulo el autor describe las características, especies y variedades de cada género y ofrece alguna guía para su identificación.
Bueno, al menos esa es la parte técnica. Y es que, como bien aclara Pretor-Pinney, una [persona] observadora de nubes no es una catalogadora; los [profesionales de la] meteorología ya se ocupan de clasificar por ti los diferentes géneros, especies y variedades de nubes. Lo llaman trabajo. La tuya es una actividad más lúdica y reflexiva.
Por entre las descripciones más científicas, Pretor-Pinney nos ofrece una rica y deliciosa colección de anécdotas, referencias a la literatura, la Historia o los mitos, relacionados con cada tipo de nube, y lo hace con un divertido tono humorístico que te saca más de una risotada.
Si aman la naturaleza y se han sorprendido más de una vez mirando o fotografiando las nubes, hay que conseguir este libro. ¿Que hay de malo en tener la cabeza en las nubes?
Lo compre hace muchos años cuando sentí mi primer arranque serio por conocer un poco mejor sobre las nubes.
En aquel entonces, como ahora, me rondaba este pensamiento: "te gusta observar las estrellas, pero a las estrellas en tu país no les gusta dejarse ver; o mejor, las nubes no te lo permiten. ¿Por qué no estudiar entonces las nubes para apreciarlas cuando no te dejen ver las estrellas?"
Cuando recientemente se me apareció en un atardecer un Stratocumulus lenticularis –como aprendí en este libro que se llamaban aquellas nubes en forma de platillos voladores de varios pisos que se forman a sotavento entre las montañas– recorde mi propósito de algunos años atrás. Desenterré el bendito librito y decidí comenzar a leerlo. Creo que ya lo había intentado, pero el esfuerzo no había prosperado seguramente porque eran los años en los que no lograba leer más de las 20 páginas que tenía un paper científico.
Lo que nunca imagine es que se tratará de un libro tan ilustrativo, tan bien escrito y tan deliciosamente divertido. La verdad creía que se trataría de una guía más, un simple libro de referencia para saber cómo ponerle nombres a las nubes.
Pero no.
"Guía del observador de nubes" del periodista inglés Gavin Pretor-Pinney es una declaración de amor al aire sobre nuestras cabezas. Un libro de viajes. Un texto de divulgación científica, con mucha física y pocos bostezos. Una guía para aquellas personas que disfrutamos mirar para arriba y deleitarnos con el espectáculo que ofrecen las nubes; o como diría Emerson –y citará Pretor-Pinney– "el extraordinario museo de las alturas". Un libro de historia y de historias sobre las nubes en diversas culturas, en la literatura, en los mitos.
Y también una guía para la identificación de nubes.
¿Se le podría pedir más a un libro sobre nubes?
Tampoco esperaba que el libro fuera algo así como el texto de referencia de los miembros de la Cloud appreciation society, una organización internacional con más de 50.000 miembros en todo el mundo, fundada por el mismo Pretor-Pinney (para las personas interesadas aquí está el sitio web de la sociedad) y que a lo largo de casi 20 años se ha convertido en la más grande organización de "nubofílicos" del planeta.
El libro se organiza alrededor de los 10 tipos de géneros de nubes reconocidos por la Organización Meteorológica Internacional. En cada capítulo el autor describe las características, especies y variedades de cada género y ofrece alguna guía para su identificación.
Bueno, al menos esa es la parte técnica. Y es que, como bien aclara Pretor-Pinney, una [persona] observadora de nubes no es una catalogadora; los [profesionales de la] meteorología ya se ocupan de clasificar por ti los diferentes géneros, especies y variedades de nubes. Lo llaman trabajo. La tuya es una actividad más lúdica y reflexiva.
Por entre las descripciones más científicas, Pretor-Pinney nos ofrece una rica y deliciosa colección de anécdotas, referencias a la literatura, la Historia o los mitos, relacionados con cada tipo de nube, y lo hace con un divertido tono humorístico que te saca más de una risotada.
Si aman la naturaleza y se han sorprendido más de una vez mirando o fotografiando las nubes, hay que conseguir este libro. ¿Que hay de malo en tener la cabeza en las nubes?
August 7, 2025
A decent book that gives a good introduction to the wonderful world above us. I’ve always found clouds fascinating, so I was curious to dive into this. The book offers plenty of extra explanation and interesting facts, but I found the way it’s written a bit harder to enjoy.
While I usually don’t mind a bit of jumping around (hello ADHD brain), in this case the digressions felt a bit off for me.
That said, the author clearly knows his stuff and has a passion for clouds that’s contagious at times. I did learn fun facts and names for clouds I’d seen a thousand times but never really seen.
While I usually don’t mind a bit of jumping around (hello ADHD brain), in this case the digressions felt a bit off for me.
That said, the author clearly knows his stuff and has a passion for clouds that’s contagious at times. I did learn fun facts and names for clouds I’d seen a thousand times but never really seen.
August 30, 2025
"At first I thought, 'Oh wow. He's intense.' But then I thought, 'Oh no. He's insane.'"-Leslie Knope
I have tried multiple times to start this book and perpetually couldn't make it through the first chapter. The author thinks he's fun and quirky like Hank Green, but he really just comes across as an obsessed, oddball with ADHD who thinks he's the funniest person he knows. If I never have to read the phrase "cloud pornography" again, I'll die a happy man.
I have tried multiple times to start this book and perpetually couldn't make it through the first chapter. The author thinks he's fun and quirky like Hank Green, but he really just comes across as an obsessed, oddball with ADHD who thinks he's the funniest person he knows. If I never have to read the phrase "cloud pornography" again, I'll die a happy man.
September 17, 2025
To remember the content of this book, I really had to treat it like a studybook and not just a casual read. Because of that, it took me a while to finish this book. But I learned a lot, and it literally expended my horizon.
September 29, 2015
So, this is a book about clouds. Really. With a chapter each on Cumulus, Cumulonimbus, Stratus, Stratocumulus, Altocumulus...there's a lot of latin, actually. And a lot of dry humor. And not a few puns. This has got to be the all-time geekiest book I have ever read.
Ok, so some of it is not quite as geeky. For example, the story of Lt.-Col. William Rankin, the only human to fall all 47,000 feet through a full-on, cumulonimbus thunderstorm full of rain, hail, and lightning, and survive. The part where he was looking down at his own belly and the pressure changes had caused it to swell up to look like he was pregnant, was a bit disturbing. But most of the book is a lot less dramatic than that.
To be honest, the latin made my head spin. I found the black-and-white drawings of the various cloud types to be useful, but knowing that a cloud was "cirrocumulus stratiformis undulatus" didn't tell me much, even after I'd read the definitions. The fact that it was called "mackerel sky" by sailors also didn't tell me much. The picture helped a lot, though, and the story of the author wandering through a fishmarket in London trying to find a mackerel to compare it to was cool. The author is clearly a wingnut, and just my kind of person.
There are some weird kinds of clouds out there, and he tells us about them. The most impressive is probably the "morning glory", which is a sort of cloud version of good surf, that hits the southern shore of Australia and which hangliders ride for miles.
The author does a good discussion of clouds in Renaissance paintings, as well (Piero della Francesca did a good altocumulus lenticularis, and he approved of Correggio choosing to portray Jupiter - who impregnated the nymph Io in the form of a cloud - as a sort of dark grey cumulus congestus).
The best part of the book, though, are the chapters wherein he talks about the relatively mundane clouds that we see every month, and (in his opinion at least) do not pay enough attention to. I admit, I cannot name the latin term for any cloud in the sky after reading this book. But I do look at them a lot more, and they are cooler than anything on your TV, including the clouds. Go look up at them. And take this book with you.
Ok, so some of it is not quite as geeky. For example, the story of Lt.-Col. William Rankin, the only human to fall all 47,000 feet through a full-on, cumulonimbus thunderstorm full of rain, hail, and lightning, and survive. The part where he was looking down at his own belly and the pressure changes had caused it to swell up to look like he was pregnant, was a bit disturbing. But most of the book is a lot less dramatic than that.
To be honest, the latin made my head spin. I found the black-and-white drawings of the various cloud types to be useful, but knowing that a cloud was "cirrocumulus stratiformis undulatus" didn't tell me much, even after I'd read the definitions. The fact that it was called "mackerel sky" by sailors also didn't tell me much. The picture helped a lot, though, and the story of the author wandering through a fishmarket in London trying to find a mackerel to compare it to was cool. The author is clearly a wingnut, and just my kind of person.
There are some weird kinds of clouds out there, and he tells us about them. The most impressive is probably the "morning glory", which is a sort of cloud version of good surf, that hits the southern shore of Australia and which hangliders ride for miles.
The author does a good discussion of clouds in Renaissance paintings, as well (Piero della Francesca did a good altocumulus lenticularis, and he approved of Correggio choosing to portray Jupiter - who impregnated the nymph Io in the form of a cloud - as a sort of dark grey cumulus congestus).
The best part of the book, though, are the chapters wherein he talks about the relatively mundane clouds that we see every month, and (in his opinion at least) do not pay enough attention to. I admit, I cannot name the latin term for any cloud in the sky after reading this book. But I do look at them a lot more, and they are cooler than anything on your TV, including the clouds. Go look up at them. And take this book with you.
May 20, 2009
I skimmed for the info I needed because 300 pages of un-entertaining blabbering is too much if you want to learn about temperature and wind affects that make different types of clouds. 80 pages illustrated, accompanied by text spots would have done the job and allowed Pretor-Pinney to include some of his more interesting anecdotes and examples from art and history as well.
March 15, 2018
'The Cloudspotters Guide' reminded me about my childhood when I was reading fascinating books on science for children and teenagers. These lively books from a local library were a stark contrast to the boring, dry, and lifeless textbooks we were given in school. I sometimes wonder if there is a special selection process for the authors of school textbooks to make sure that the only people admitted to do the job hate both science and children with passion. Anyway, back to the review.
'The Cloudspotters Guide' could as well be an example of how to approach creating a good school textbook that grabs student's attention and doesn't let it go until the last page. It is crafted in a very accessible language that is easy to understand and to remember, so by the end of it even the Latin names of the clouds are memorised and jump out any time I look at the sky. It never goes into the science dives for too long to get a brain tired and they are always followed by a historical or a cultural anecdote. Each chapter is sprinkled with humour and, while to my taste it wasn't funny enough to laugh, being of a quality of some ordinary dad jokes, it did bring out a warm smile here and there.
I would not recommend this book for those people who are looking for a more technical and less fluffy description of the meteorological processes. 'The Cloudspotters Guide' is too light for that. It's target audience is not the meteo-nerds - there are enough books for those already. It is for the less serious of us, who just want to be a little bit more savvy at reading and understanding the sky. And after reading the book I am definitely exercising my neck way more often than I used to!
'The Cloudspotters Guide' could as well be an example of how to approach creating a good school textbook that grabs student's attention and doesn't let it go until the last page. It is crafted in a very accessible language that is easy to understand and to remember, so by the end of it even the Latin names of the clouds are memorised and jump out any time I look at the sky. It never goes into the science dives for too long to get a brain tired and they are always followed by a historical or a cultural anecdote. Each chapter is sprinkled with humour and, while to my taste it wasn't funny enough to laugh, being of a quality of some ordinary dad jokes, it did bring out a warm smile here and there.
I would not recommend this book for those people who are looking for a more technical and less fluffy description of the meteorological processes. 'The Cloudspotters Guide' is too light for that. It's target audience is not the meteo-nerds - there are enough books for those already. It is for the less serious of us, who just want to be a little bit more savvy at reading and understanding the sky. And after reading the book I am definitely exercising my neck way more often than I used to!
March 3, 2023
Although I haven't technically finished this (I haven't read till the end), this is a great read with bags of interesting information about clouds and weather skies.
I have always had a fascination with meteorology and clouds in particular and Pretor-Pinney's book reflects this fascination. There are some great photographs and illustrations detailing all different kinds of weather.
I think this is the type of book that is best dipped in to like a box of deelish chocolates. It will be a book I'll enjoy having on my shelf and referring to when I see a freaky cloud formation floating past the window. Highly enjoyable and recommendable.
I have always had a fascination with meteorology and clouds in particular and Pretor-Pinney's book reflects this fascination. There are some great photographs and illustrations detailing all different kinds of weather.
I think this is the type of book that is best dipped in to like a box of deelish chocolates. It will be a book I'll enjoy having on my shelf and referring to when I see a freaky cloud formation floating past the window. Highly enjoyable and recommendable.
January 3, 2024
Never did I think I would be this invested in a book about clouds. The author paints a detailed image of the different types of clouds, their history and their many uses, without making it too scientific. It even delves into the use of influencing the weather during military operations. A pity that I read it at a bad time during Belgium's dark and gloomy winter months.
April 14, 2022
legit tykkäsin sikana. Tosi mielenkiintonen ja rakastan ku täs oli tietty tietoa pilvistä mut ne oli kerrottu tosi mielenkiintosesti ja sit oli kans kaikkee muuta mielenkiintost esim mitä tapahtuis jos pilvien käyttäytymist muuteltais sodissa ja miks se on (monella porsaanreiällä varustettuna) kiellettyä
suosittelen jos yhtään vois kiinnostaa
suosittelen jos yhtään vois kiinnostaa
May 12, 2025
A winsome introduction to the sky.
May 9, 2023
Content warning for this book: there is cloud porn.
October 27, 2013
The Cloudspotter's Guide is an interesting premise, and one that I hoped would equip me ably to glance heavenwards and confidently see what was what, working as I do outdoors in all weathers - and yes - even perhaps "amaze my friends" (as neat tricks in my childhood always promised)!
The book starts well: copiously illustrated and nicely laid out with good summary introductions of each major cloud type encountered chapter by chapter. The author's style is necessarily informative and somewhat entertaining, though this latter trait becomes a trifle tiresome in places as I got the impression he was trying just a bit too hard to be funny. I enjoyed these early chapters (on the low altitude clouds) as I genuinely felt I was learning something (as was my hope) and the subject matter was all quite digestible. But as I progressed through the book, I felt by the midway point that it was all becoming a bit of a blur. I felt bogged down with the confusing explanations of physics, and convection, and.... other stuff. It seems that one cloud began to roll into another, and I found it challenging to tell my Nimbostratus from my Stratocumulus.
I think it's probably me - physics and chemistry were never my strongest subjects, and pretty much all of the science I've learnt as an adult has been tree-related. (But I have read popular science books with trees as the main subject matter that were well-written and not too bamboozling... So I know it can be done.) Finding myself becoming bored with the book, I've abandoned it to the bathroom window sill, where it will doubtless remain until our next epic storm or other freak weather event pushes me to reconsider just why Cumulonimbus occur!
The book starts well: copiously illustrated and nicely laid out with good summary introductions of each major cloud type encountered chapter by chapter. The author's style is necessarily informative and somewhat entertaining, though this latter trait becomes a trifle tiresome in places as I got the impression he was trying just a bit too hard to be funny. I enjoyed these early chapters (on the low altitude clouds) as I genuinely felt I was learning something (as was my hope) and the subject matter was all quite digestible. But as I progressed through the book, I felt by the midway point that it was all becoming a bit of a blur. I felt bogged down with the confusing explanations of physics, and convection, and.... other stuff. It seems that one cloud began to roll into another, and I found it challenging to tell my Nimbostratus from my Stratocumulus.
I think it's probably me - physics and chemistry were never my strongest subjects, and pretty much all of the science I've learnt as an adult has been tree-related. (But I have read popular science books with trees as the main subject matter that were well-written and not too bamboozling... So I know it can be done.) Finding myself becoming bored with the book, I've abandoned it to the bathroom window sill, where it will doubtless remain until our next epic storm or other freak weather event pushes me to reconsider just why Cumulonimbus occur!
April 6, 2021
While clouds might not seem like particularly interesting or even worthwhile subjects for a whole book to many, this has to be amongst the most unique books I’ve ever read.
☁️
There’s plenty of science and explanation of natural phenomena to get your head around, like why the sky is bright blue on a clear sunny day and red during sunrise and sunset or how exactly the different genus of clouds form and why some of them are precipitating ones while others are not.
☁️
Beside science, there’s also an abundance of historical and cultural references on clouds as well as a fascinating section on the terrifying use of weather modification such as cloud seeding for military purposes during the Vietnam War.
☁️
Gavin Pretor-Pinney’s humour, quirky wit and never-ending enthusiasm makes the book an immensely entertaining read. Only a truly dedicated cloudspotter would take an early morning trip to Billingsgate Fish Market in London’s East End to find out precisely what kind of mackerel it is that a particular cirrocumulus formation commonly known as mackerel sky looks like.
☁️
As a converted cloudspotter, I’m proud to say that I can’t stop looking at the sky whenever I go outside. ⚠️Warning: cloudspotting is a highly contagious activity.
☁️
There’s plenty of science and explanation of natural phenomena to get your head around, like why the sky is bright blue on a clear sunny day and red during sunrise and sunset or how exactly the different genus of clouds form and why some of them are precipitating ones while others are not.
☁️
Beside science, there’s also an abundance of historical and cultural references on clouds as well as a fascinating section on the terrifying use of weather modification such as cloud seeding for military purposes during the Vietnam War.
☁️
Gavin Pretor-Pinney’s humour, quirky wit and never-ending enthusiasm makes the book an immensely entertaining read. Only a truly dedicated cloudspotter would take an early morning trip to Billingsgate Fish Market in London’s East End to find out precisely what kind of mackerel it is that a particular cirrocumulus formation commonly known as mackerel sky looks like.
☁️
As a converted cloudspotter, I’m proud to say that I can’t stop looking at the sky whenever I go outside. ⚠️Warning: cloudspotting is a highly contagious activity.
July 29, 2014
Ieteiktu izlasīt visiem cilvēkiem, kuriem patīk raudzīties mākoņos. Mākoņi nemaz nav tik vienkārši pūkaini radījumi, kādi tie izskatās no apakšas. Viņi ir daudzveidīgi un katrs no viņiem var zinātājam pastāstīt kaut ko par to, kas notiek virs mūsu galvām. Lai ar viņi ir saklasificēti smuki pa plauktiņiem, mākoņu vērotājam iesācējam pietiek tikai paskatīties dabesīs un saprast, ka viss ir daudz sarežģītāk. Debesīs praktiski nekad nav tikai viena tipa mākoņi un reizēm pat ir grūti atšķirt Cumulonimbus no Stratocumulus, sevišķi ja tev lietus jau līst uz galvas.
Uzzināju milzīgu jaunu informācijas apjomu. Pēc mākoņiem var labi paredzēt laika apstākļus (būs jāpatestē vai arī mūsu piejūras klimatā tas strādā). Taču vistrakākais ir tas, ka nu man ir obligāti jātiek uz Bruketown Austrālijā, lai redzētu vienu no retākajiem mākoņiem pasaulē Morning Glory. Izlasījis grāmatu tagad uz mākoņiem skatos ar pavisam citu aci.
Uzzināju milzīgu jaunu informācijas apjomu. Pēc mākoņiem var labi paredzēt laika apstākļus (būs jāpatestē vai arī mūsu piejūras klimatā tas strādā). Taču vistrakākais ir tas, ka nu man ir obligāti jātiek uz Bruketown Austrālijā, lai redzētu vienu no retākajiem mākoņiem pasaulē Morning Glory. Izlasījis grāmatu tagad uz mākoņiem skatos ar pavisam citu aci.
June 24, 2012
There aren't many books that cause you to behave differently after reading them. For me clouds were always a disappointing sight; they stood as a closing statement to an ecstatic run of beautiful Summer days, or a disappointing ceiling hindering my morning optimism. As soon as I saw them I chose to ostracize and disregard them until they had slipped away silently overnight, but just as ignorance causes us to be suspicious of those we know nothing about, my ignorance of the many forms of water going about it's daily business and disregarding it's poetic splendour stopped me from appreciating the skies above us. Now I understand and find myself watching the sky endlessly, with both scientific and artistic wonder. Even Constable and Turner paintings have a whole new meaning. Have a read, it'll change your outlook forever
...and it's in such a nice sleeve as well
...and it's in such a nice sleeve as well
May 22, 2010
This is how I wish ALL science books were written. Incredibly fascinating info with all the history and culture and the difficult science principles were explained very clearly. I only gave it 4 stars simply because it took me a really long time to read (had to think a lot more than usual!)
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