{"title":"Robert A Olson","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"when-good-science-won-but-it-wasn-t-easy-book-robert-a-olson-9781737166306","title":"When Good Science Won (but it wasn't easy)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere ought to be a law  How many times have we said and heard this desire? From his extensive experience with crafting, advocating, and implementing many of California's earthquake safety laws, author Robert A. Olson takes the reader into the process by answering the critical question: How are earthquake safety requirements conceived and made into laws?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo illustrate the process, he draws upon history to show how the policy stage was set immediately after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake when two precedent-setting measures were enacted: the Field Act that centralized at the state level the planning, design, and construction of public schools, and the Riley Act that set a minimum standard for constructing buildings in general. Olson also draws on other events, such as the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake and the non-earthquake caused Saint Francis Dam failure of 1928, and the steady mobilization of advocacy groups, to add a broader context of how the San Fernando earthquake of 1971 prompted a special joint legislative committee to sponsor noteworthy laws.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe politics of enacting state laws soon after the 1971 San Fernando earthquake include requiring local general plans to address earthquake safety, stipulating rigorous state standards for construction of new hospitals, and calling for establishment of a Seismic Safety Commission.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom his view as a political scientist, Olson defines four waves that characterize California's earthquake safety evolution. Wave One addresses the early disasters and the two laws stemming from the Long Beach earthquake. Wave Two focuses only on the legislative consequences of the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. For Waves Three and Four Olson summarizes legislative efforts following the 1989 Loma Prieta and 1994 Northridge earthquakes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis fascinating book is as much about historic earthquakes as it is about legislative politics: the process that every proposed California law undergoes from idea to law (or rejection). The bills that were passed into law are testaments to the earnestness and diligence of lawmakers, volunteer advocates and staffers whose desire was to protect the people of California.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49600399704337,"sku":"GOR012624324","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51049907781905,"sku":"NIN9781737166306","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1737166305.jpg?v=1750896959"},{"product_id":"advertising-that-reminds-book-robert-a-olson-9781737166320","title":"Advertising That Reminds","description":"\u003cp\u003eWalldogs were artists who painted external signs and murals used as advertisements throughout the United States in the 1890s through the mid-1900s. These artists were known for working like dogs through the heat of the summer, sometimes in very dangerous conditions. This book is dedicated to walldogs everywhere, past and present.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo earthquakes that rocked the Northern California city of Santa Rosa in 1969 required the demolition of a building that the jolts had rendered unsafe. Removal of that building revealed a hidden surprise: old but remarkably well-preserved advertising art that embellished the newly exposed wall of the adjoining building - the one shown on the cover of this book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat revelation triggered Robert Olson's interest in learning more about this vintage art and its history, and set him off on a journey of discovery that has spanned many years since. During the course of his travels and ad hoc field research, Olson located an elderly man (Caleb Whitbeck) who had been a walldog artist - a sign painter. Noting that this bit of Americana had been overlooked as an art form, he introduced the author to the fraternal society of Walldoggers, who painted ads on building walls to sell products and services of the day. This compilation is dedicated to those sign painters.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntended to show examples of walldog art, this book presents only about half of the photos from Olson's collection. Pictures were often hard to get because of distance, narrow alleys, traffic, access difficulties, and limitations due to his camera and photographic skills.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe also sprinkled this book with some non-walldog signs, such as early neon signs, and interesting modern-day murals.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52754299978001,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52754300698897,"sku":"NIN9781737166320","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781737166320.jpg?v=1763568948"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-robert-a-olson.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}