Cloudspotting with the Cloud Appreciation Society 

Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, takes you on an illustrated tour of the sky. He shows how to recognize the many varied and dramatic cloud formations, from the fair-weather cotton tufts known as cumulus to the flying-saucer shaped lenticularis and the fleeting cloud undulations called fluctus. In this enlightening and entertaining talk, Gavin explains why clouds look the way they do, how the sky has played a cameo role throughout the history of art, how clouds reveal the invisible movements of our atmosphere, and why spending a few moments each day with your head in the clouds helps you keep your feet on the ground. You will learn how cloud identification can help you forecast the weather, how a simple quality of water explains why clouds can appear and disappear as if by magic, and why cloudspotting is the perfect antidote to the pressures of the digital world. Looking up will never be the same again!