Barnes & Noble Digital Library

This 1866 collection of essays on “Work,” “Traffic,” and “War,” begins with a preface condemning the human depletion of nature for what Ruskin saw as valueless gains. In this way, mining the ground for metals, water, and other resources parallels the work of the three lecture topics—all is done for the money. But what Ruskin wants to know is what the ultimate effect and product of their work is?