The Book of Clouds: How to Read the Sky

We spend a great deal of time living under the cover of clouds, but rarely do we look up and pay attention to them, and most of us know very little about what clouds are and the vital role they play in the Earth’s climate and ecosystem. This is not true of Vincenzo Levizzani. As one of the world’s leading experts on the physics of clouds. He has devoted his life to studying clouds, analysing their characteristics and passing this knowledge on to others. In The Book of Clouds, Levizzani provides a marvellous introduction to the history and science of clouds – from the many ways that clouds have influenced art and culture to the way that they have been studied, classified and understood, from understanding how clouds form an distribute precipitation to understanding how they are affected by climate change. The result is a book that provides readers with everything they need to know to recognise different clouds, interpret their behaviour and understand what is likely to happen if we are foolish enough to disrupt the delicate balance between Earth and the skies that have blessed us with a habitable climate for millennia. Exquisitely illustrated, The Book of Clouds offers a deep dive into clouds, droplets, crystals, graupels and hailstones among other things. It will be the indispensible book for anyone who has gazed upwards and wondered what to make of the different clouds and cloud formations that fill our skies.