Practical Intelligence: The Art and Science of Common Sense

PREFACE

SOME TIME DURING THE PERIOD AROUND 200 BC, a famous general named Hannibal, who fought for the North African empire of Carthage, launched a ferocious attack on the Roman army in the African desert at a place called Zama.

Hannibal employed an innovative weapon in his attack: elephants. He had become a big fan of elephants as instruments of war. They were huge, frightening beasts, and enemy soldiers were usually intimidated by their mere presence. His father, Hamilcar, had experimented with elephants, largely without success, and Hannibal himself had led an army equipped with elephants across the Italian Alps to attack the farther reaches of the early Roman empire. The fact that he lost half of his army and most of the elephants on the way ...