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Francis Weston Sears (October 1, 1898 – November 12, 1975) was an American physicist. He was a professor of physics at MIT for 35 years before moving to Dartmouth College in 1956. At Dartmouth, Sears was the Appleton Professor of Physics. He is best known for co-authoring University Physics, an introductory physics textbook, with Mark Zemansky. The book, first published in 1949, is often referred to as "Sears and Zemansky", although Hugh Young became a coauthor in 1973.

In 1932 he collaborated with Peter Debye in the discovery of what is now called the Debye–Sears effect, the diffraction of light by ultrasonic waves.

Sears was a fellow of the Optical Society of America, and was active in the American Association of Physics Teachers, serving as its treasurer from 1950 to 1958, followed by successive one-year terms as president-elect and president. He retired to Norwich, Vermont and died in Hanover, New Hampshire, of a stroke on November 12, 1975.

Awards

• 1961 — Oersted Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers

Books

• Sears, Francis W. (1935). An Introduction to Optics. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
• Sears, Francis W. (1946). Electricity and Magnetism. Reading, Massachusetts. Addison-Wesley
• Sears, Francis; Mark Zemansky; et al. (1948). College Physics (1st ed.). Addison Wesley.
• Sears, Francis W. (1950). An Introduction to Thermodynamics, the Kinetic Theory of Gases and Statistical Mechanics. Addison Wesley. 2nd edition, 1953
• Sears, Francis W. (1950). Mechanics, heat and sound. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Addison Wesley.
• Sears, Francis (1958). Mechanics, Wave Motion, and Heat (1st ed.). Addison Wesley.
• Francis W. Sears (1975). Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory, and Statistical Thermodynamics. Addison Wesley. ISBN 020106894X.

See also

• MIT Physics Department

References

1. "Biographical notes", Journal of the Optical Society of America, 66(12): 1446
2. ^ O'Connell, George (March 1962). "The faculty". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
3. O'Connell, George (October 1961). "The faculty". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
4. "Descendants of Richard Sears - Eighth Generation". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-07-19.
5. Debye-Sears ultrasonic cell
6. ^ King, Allen L. (1976). "Francis W. Sears, 1898–1975". American Journal of Physics. 44 (3): 3. Bibcode:1976AmJPh..44....3K. doi:10.1119/1.10535.
7. Zemansky, Mark W. (February 1976). "Francis W. Sears". Physics Today. 29 (2): 65. Bibcode:1976PhT....29b..65Z. doi:10.1063/1.3023329. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28.
8. "Francis Sears". The New York Times. November 14, 1975. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
9. Olsen, Leonard O. (1979). "Francis Weston Sears: Oersted Medalist for 1961". In Phillips, Melba (ed.). 50 Years On Teaching Physics. pp. 125–126. doi:10.1063/9780735421325_031. ISBN 9780735421325.
10. Platt, John R. (1946). "Review of Principles of Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism by Francis Weston Sears". Science. 104 (2692): 112–113. doi:10.1126/science.104.2692.112. PMID 17790179. S2CID 177021679. p. 113
11. Nierenberg, William A. (1948). "Review of College Physics: Mechanics, Heat and Sound (Pt. 1.) by Francis Weston Sears and Mark W. Zemansky". Science. 107 (2768): 73. doi:10.1126/science.107.2768.73.
12. Leaf, Boris; Cardwell, A. B. (1953). "Review of An Introduction to Thermodynamics, the Kinetic Theory of Gases, and Statistical Mechanics, 2nd edition by Francis Weston Sears". American Journal of Physics. 21 (7): 580. Bibcode:1953AmJPh..21..580S. doi:10.1119/1.1933565.
13. Friedman, Abraham S. (1954). "Review of An Introduction to Thermodynamics, the Kinetic Theory of Gases, and Statistical Mechanics, 2nd edition by Francis Weston Sears". Physics Today. 7 (4): 26. doi:10.1063/1.3061598.
14. Ablow, C. M. (1959). "Review of Mechanics, Wave Motion, and Heat by Francis Weston Sears". Physics Today. 12 (6): 52–54. doi:10.1063/1.3060858.
15. Turoff, Robert David (1976). "Review of Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory, and Statistical Thermodynamics by Francis W. Sears and Gerhard L. Salinger". American Journal of Physics. 44 (2): 192–194. doi:10.1119/1.10595.

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