Cloud Appreciation Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney shows how seemingly idle pursuits provide unexpected paths to appreciating overlooked wonders.
Why you should listen
As co-founder of The Idler magazine, Gavin Pretor-Pinney is a longtime advocate of the joys of time ill-spent. In The Cloudspotter's Guide and The Cloud Collector's Handbook, he tackles the idlest pursuit of all: cloudwatching.
Pretor-Pinney’s blend of tranquil appreciation and hard science have floated his cloud books to the top of bestseller lists. For Pretor-Pinney, clouds illustrate how mundane phenomena reveal the complex vectors that connect the natural wonders around us.
Pretor-Pinney is also the author of The Wavewatcher's Companion.
What others say
The U.K. Cloud Appreciation Society grew out of a talk on clouds Mr. Pretor-Pinney delivered to a literary festival in 2004. To attract attendees, he invented a whimsical title: the Inaugural Lecture of the Cloud Appreciation Society. To his surprise, several people asked to join. The society was born.
Gavin Pretor-Pinney’s TED Talk
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