The Cloudspotter's Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds.The CLOUDSPOTTER'S GUIDE: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds GAVIN PRETOR-PINNEY Most people don't think about clouds, except to curse them for blocking the sun. Pretor-Pinney, however, celebrates the fluffy white or even dark gray forms. Founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society The Cloud Appreciation Society is a society founded by Gavin Pretor-Pinney from the United Kingdom in January 2005. The society aims to foster understanding and appreciation of clouds. Since its inception, the society has over 8000 members worldwide. , Pretor-Pinney provides the tools that every fledgling cloudspotter needs to identify the 10 main cloud varieties. Each chapter is devoted to a particular type of cloud and includes a "How to Spot" chart. Listings include cloud types, Latin names, typical altitudes, places of origin, and chances of producing precipitation that can reach the ground. Divided into sections devoted to low, middle, and high clouds, this field guide to the skies includes such details as the ferocious, storm-producing capabilities of the cumulonimbus cumulonimbus: see cloud. , the UFO-like appearance of the altocumulus altocumulus: see cloud. lenticularis, and the halo-forming tendencies of the cirrostratus cir·ro·stra·tus n. A high-altitude, thin, hazy cloud, usually covering the sky and often producing a halo effect. cirrostratus Noun pl -ti . Finally, the author describes his voyage to Australia to view the cloudspotter's ultimate find, a cloud known as the morning glory morning glory, common name for members of the Convolvulaceae, a family of herbs, shrubs, and small trees (many of them climbing forms) inhabiting warm regions, especially the tropics of America and Asia. The family is characterized by milky sap. , which can stretch as far as 600 miles across the sky. Penguin, 2006, 320 p., b&w photos and illus., hardcover, $19. 95. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion