"Oceanography: The Past" was co-edited with Daniel Merriman as part of the Third International Congress on the History of Oceanography, held at Woods Hole in September 1980 in celebration of the Institution's fiftieth anniversary. Long-time friend and colleague Roger Revelle described Sears in a paper he presented at that Congress as "the conscience of oceanography who initiated and maintained an uncompromising standard of excellence in scientific publications about the oceans... She played a major role in creating the present world community of oceanographers from numerous countries and almost as many specialties."