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A tour of Carl W. Gottschalk鈥檚 collection of historical books reveals the breadth of renal physiology鈥檚 history and Gottschalk鈥檚 place as a pioneer in the field.

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As a child, Carl W. Gottschalk loved collecting. He collected stamps, coins, and most notably butterflies. At just 15 years old, he discovered a rare butterfly species that now bears his name, Stryman cecrops Gottschalki, and published his first scientific paper. His passion for collecting eventually took backstage to his interest in science. As an adult, Gottschalk made innovative advancements to kidney micropuncture and fundamental discoveries of kidney function that shaped the field of modern renal physiology. It wasn鈥檛 until many years later that his passion for collecting was reignited by his friend and colleague, Jean Oliver, MD, a renal anatomist and pathologist.

This time though, instead of butterflies, Gottschalk collected historic texts containing hand-drawn illustrations from ancient anatomists dating as far back as the 1500s. On November 25, 2024, students, postdocs, and faculty from the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, and the invited speaker for the 24th annual Gottschalk Lecture, Samir Parikh, MD, from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, got a peek inside Gottschalk鈥檚 historic collection of books in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (黑料网-CH).

Some books within the collection, including one from Bartolomeo Eustachii, an Italian anatomist from the 1500s, boasted realistic illustrations of the human kidney. Other books, such as one from Andreas Vesalius, an anatomist from the 1500s, who is often referred to as the father of human anatomy, took more creative liberties in depicting a surgical procedure as a show. Nestled among these 16th century texts are more recent manuscripts from the 1940s, including one from Jean Oliver, MD on the architecture of the kidney in chronic Bright鈥檚 disease and another from W.J. Kolff, PhD, on the artificial kidney.

The collection was donated to the library by Susan Fellner, MD, a nephrologist and Gottschalk鈥檚 wife. Fellner attended the tour and shared anecdotes about the collection, including a touching story about one of the texts on display, a copy of the 1967 report from the Committee on Chronic Kidney Disease chaired by Gottschalk. 鈥淐arl was chosen [to lead the committee] because he was so fair and softspoken and could make things happen,鈥� said Fellner. In the document, the committee concluded that people with chronic kidney disease could be treated successfully with dialysis and that no one should be denied this treatment for financial reasons. This document proved critical in later efforts passed into law in 1972 entitling individuals with end-stage chronic kidney disease to dialysis under Medicare.

鈥淚 met Carl at the Mont Desert Island Biological Laboratory at Homer Schmitt鈥檚 Symposium. A week later, at the University of Chicago, I received a copy of this [report] from Carl. It was my first love note,鈥� said Fellner. 鈥淲ritten across the front was, 鈥榊ou will be interested in this, fondly.鈥� I think that is as unique a correspondence between people newly met that you could imagine,鈥� continued Fellner. The story personifies their meeting of minds and shared passion for renal physiology. Researchers can explore more historical books and illustrations from Gottschalk鈥檚 collection at the Wilson Library. Also on display in the library is Gottschalk鈥檚 unique kidney-shaped desk.

Gottschalk started his lab at 黑料网-CH in 1952, where he made many of his foundational discoveries. Every year the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology and the 黑料网 Kidney Center invite a notable leader in kidney research to talk about their research. In the 24th annual Gottschalk Lecture, Samir Parikh, MD, discussed ways to turn back kidney frailty by targeting metabolism and made several references to Gottschalk. In one such reference, Parikh mentioned he follows Gottschalk鈥檚 approach of testing multiple insults in different animal models to understand kidney function and dysfunction. Parikh鈥檚 research team found that transient insults cause mitochondrial DNA mutations in the kidney that exaggerate kidney stress responses. He shared findings from his team that suggest that augmentation with the coenzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide may enhance kidney resilience to transient stressors and that restoring ATP building blocks may counteract kidney frailty caused by mitochondrial DNA mutations. 鈥淐arl Gottschalk painstakingly demonstrated how urine can be concentrated relative to plasma. This is fundamental to terrestrial life,鈥� wrote Parikh in a social post prior to the event. 鈥淲hat an honor and privilege to be connected with Dr. Gottschalk.鈥�

 

 

Snippets from Gottschalk’s historical book collection in the Wilson Library

Anatomists Andreas Vesalius from the 1500s (left) and Frederik Ruysch from the 1700s (right) took creative liberties in their scientific illustrations.

Other anatomists from the 1500s, such as Bartolomeo Eustachii,听took a more realistic approach to scientific illustration. Eustachii even included a scale bar in the form of a bookmark in the drawing on the top right.

Gottschalk’s collection also included more recent texts from the 1940s from Jean Oliver, MD and W.J. Kolff, PhD.

 

Reference
Burg, M.B. Carl W. Gottschalk. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Biographical Memoirs: Volume 77. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press (1999).

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Written by Tiffany Garbutt, PhD

This article was originally published on November 25, 2024 in the CBP In the Loop: Year in Review Newsletter.