Gavin Edmund Pretor-Pinney is a British author, known for his books The Cloudspotter's Guide and The Wavewatcher's Companion. Pretor-Pinney attended Westminster School, the University of Oxford, and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. 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.