The Invention of Clouds is the true story of luke howard, the amateur English meteorologist who in 1802 gave the clouds their names -- cumulus, cirrus, stratus. He immediately gained international fame, becoming a cult f...The Invention of Clouds is the true story of luke howard, the amateur English meteorologist who in 1802 gave the clouds their names -- cumulus, cirrus, stratus. He immediately gained international fame, becoming a cult figure among artists and painters -- goethe, constable, and coleridge revered him -- and legitimizing the science of meteorology.