Remember when your childhood understanding of the solar system was shattered when all of a sudden Pluto was not a planet any more? When suddenly there are only EIGHT planets and My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas doesn't work as a mnemonic device for the names of the planets any more? That's all thanks to the work of astronomer Mike Brown, a Caltech professor who discovered several other orbiting objects out near Pluto that were similar to it in size and other characteristics and therefore proved that Pluto was just one of many floating objects out past Neptune, making it not something as special as a planet. I know that I was disappointed when I heard that news--but I'd never really thought about how or why they'd made that decision (or who the "they" who made that decision were). Brown's book serves kind of as a memoir/astronomy textbook describing the whole process and how he discovered the other non-planets. He writes very well and understands his audience very clearly, giving really great non-scientific explanations for everything and a lot of background that's really fascinating for a non-scientist and non-astronomer. He also writes about his personal life along with the discoveries he made, such as his getting married and having a daughter and all that jazz. It was almost poetic in how well-written it was, which is surprising based on the stereotype of scientific writing, haha. I really liked this book!
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