Read the excerpt from “death by black hole.” albert einstein’s general theory of relativity, published in 1916, provides the insight to understand the bizarre structure of space and time in a high-gravity environment. later research by the american physicist john a. wheeler, and others, to formulate a vocabulary as well as the mathematical tools to describe and predict what a black hole will do to its surroundings. read the excerpt from “man listening to disc.” and i bow deeply to thelonious monk for figuring out a way to motorize—or whatever—his huge piano so he could be with us today. these excerpts are similar because both texts a-show a connection between math and music. b-reference musicians the narrators admire. c-make predictions about the future of mankind. d-credit people who have inspired the authors.

The correct answer is D: credit people who have inspired the authors.

"Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries" is a book published in 2007 and written by Neil deGrasse Tyson, an american astrophysicist, and it is an anthology of several of Tyson's most popular articles. This book deals with astrophysical themes, such as The Nature of Knowledge, The Knowledge of Nature, Ways and Means of Nature, The Meaning of Life, among others. Einstein is mentioned in this book to support Neil deGrasse theories and investigation and to provide the insight to fully understand the nature of physics. So, in other words, Einstein has inspired, somehow, Neil deGrasse research.

The second excerpt has been taken from the poem written by Billy Collins:  "Man Listening to Disc". This is a medium length poem that focuses on one person listening to a CD while walking down a city street. Thelonious Monk is mentioned in this poem, along with Tommy Potter and Arthur Taylor, since these are some of the musicians the author is listening to while walking down the city street. Thelonious Monk is a very well-know american jazz pianist and composer who inspired the author to write this poem.

Although very different in content and structure, both excerpts were written by two different authors who wanted to credit these two celebrities in order to show how much they respected them and to show that both Einstein and Monk have, somehow, contributed to their work.