Gavin Pretor-Pinney
Gavin Edmund Pretor-Pinney is a British author, known for his books The Cloudspotter's Guide and The Wavewatcher's Companion.
Early life and education
Pretor-Pinney is son of Anthony Robert Edmund Pretor-Pinney and Laura Uppercu, daughter of George Winthrop Haight, of Manhattan, observer for the American Bar Association and a specialist in international law. The Pretor-Pinney family were landowners at Somerton, Somerset since the 1800s, descendants of the sugar merchant and Mayor of Bristol Charles Pinney; Anthony Pretor-Pinney had Somerton Erleigh, named for the family's former house on a different part of the estate, built in 1972–3.Pretor-Pinney attended Westminster School, the University of Oxford, and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.
Career
He co-founded the magazine The Idler and founded the Cloud Appreciation Society in 2004. He grew up in West London and now also lives in Somerton, Somerset.Awards and honours
- 2011 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, winner, ''The Wavewatcher's Companion''
Works
- The Cloudspotter's Guide
- The Cloud Collector's Handbook
- A Pig with Six Legs and Other Clouds
- The Wavewatcher's Companion
- The Ukulele Handbook
- ''A Cloud A Day''
Television appearances
- Presented on BBC TV: Cloudspotting
- Appeared on BBC TV: The Secret Life of Waves