Read this excerpt from frankenstein:

[the professor] began his lecture by a recapitulation of the history of chemistry and the various improvements made by different men of learning. . "the ancient teachers of this science," said he, "promised impossibilities, and performed nothing. the modern masters . . penetrate into the recesses of nature, and show how she works in her hiding-places. they ascend into the heavens; they have discovered how the blood circulates, and the nature of the air we breathe."which topic best relates to the theme developed in this passage?

a. the history of chemistry
b. teaching as an art form
c. the need to work in secrecy
d. the pursuit of knowledge