Francis Weston Sears (October 1, 1898 – November 12, 1975) was an American physicist.
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.
[4][5] 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.
[6] He retired to Norwich, Vermont and died in Hanover, New Hampshire, of a stroke on November 12, 1975.