The Multicultural Book Group will meet at 7 p.m. on May 10 at the 320th Federal Way library to discuss “Dr. Mutter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine” by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz.

The book is a biography of the brilliant and eccentric medical innovator who revolutionized American surgery. Imagine undergoing an operation without anesthesia performed by a surgeon who refuses to sterilize his tools or even wash his hands. This was the world of medicine when Thomas Dent Mütter began his trailblazing career as a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia during the middle of the nineteenth century. Although he died at just forty-eight, Mütter was an audacious medical innovator who pioneered the use of ether as anesthesia, the sterilization of surgical tools, and a compassion-based vision for helping the severely deformed, which clashed spectacularly with the sentiments of his time.

All are welcome to join this free event.