Contact Information The Great Courses The Great Courses, formerly known as The Teaching Company, produces 350 lecture courses taught by professors at the nation's leading universities, which they sell on CD, DVD, Audio Download, and Video Download. Their courses vary in length, ranging from 8 to 84 lectures, with lectures lasting either 30 or 45 minutes. The courses cover a wide range of topics in the categories of history, literature, the arts, philosophy, religion, science, and business. Most of their courses are available in both audio and video formats with visual aids included in the video tapings of the professors teaching their course. Their professors are carefully selected through evaluations and auditions from students and customers, and the professors they choose teach at well respected colleges such as Stanford, Georgetown, and many Ivy League colleges. Their products can be purchased online or by calling 1-800-832-2412. The Aeneid is ancient Rome?s great national epic. It was basic to the education of generations of Romans and inspired such writers and artists as St. Augustine, Dante, Chaucer, Tennyson, and T. S. Elliot. The story of Africa is the oldest and most event-filled chronicle of human activity on the planet. These 36 half-hour lectures cover this great historical drama, tracing the story of the sub-Saharan region of the continent from the earliest evidence of human habitation to the latest challenges facing African nations in the 21st century. In May 1905, an unknown 26-year-old Swiss patent clerk wrote to a friend about four scientific papers