Leslie Colin Woods

Leslie Colin Woods (6 December 1922 – 15 April 2007) was a New Zealand mathematician.

Leslie Colin Woods
Born
Leslie Colin Woods

6 December 1922
Reporoa, New Zealand
Died15 April 2007
Oxford, United Kingdom
NationalityNew Zealand
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
Doctoral advisor Alexander Thom
Doctoral studentsJason Reese

Early life and education

Woods was born on 6 December 1922 in Reporoa, New Zealand.[1] Woods' father was a fisherman.[2] His surname was originally Woodhead.

His school education was completed in New Zealand, where he attended Seddon Memorial Technical College (where he was Head Boy).[3] In his autobiography Against the Tide: An Autobiographical Account of a Professional Outsider, he gives credit to his school teachers, including Colin Maloy and G J Park, for kindling his interest in science and encouraging him to take up a career in academia.[4]

In 1940 Woods went on to study at Auckland University College, but left to join the Royal New Zealand Air Force in December 1941. After completing his training as a pilot he was posted to the Pacific Area in 1943, serving three tours of duty in 1944 and 1945.[3]

After the war Woods returned to Auckland University College, taking his MSc in 1945 and a BE in 1947. The following year he matriculated at Merton College, Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship; he studied there until 1951, taking a DPhil in 1950, and then, unusually, a first-class BA in Mathematics in 1951.[3]

Academic career

Woods was the Nuffield Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Technology at Sydney.[5] He was elected a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford in 1961 where he researched the theory of magnetically-confined hot plasmas. Woods was professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford from 1970 until his retirement in 1990. [6]

Personal life

In 1943, Woods married Gladys Elizabeth (Betty) Bayley; they had five daughters.[2][3]

Woods died on 15 April 2007 in Oxford.[1]

Bibliography

His notable books include:[7]

  • The Theory of Subsonic Plane Flow (1961)
  • The Thermodynamics of Fluid Systems (1975)
  • Principles of Magnetoplasma Dynamics (1987)
  • Kinetic Theory of Gases and Magnetoplasmas (1993)
  • Thermodynamic Inequalities with Applications to Gases and Magnetoplasmas (1996)
  • Against the Tide: An Autobiographical Account of a Professional Outsider (2000)
  • Physics of Plasmas (2003)
  • Theory of Tokamak Transport: New Aspects for Nuclear Fusion Reactor Design (2006)

References
  1. O'Connor, J J; Robertson, E F. "Leslie Woods (1922 - 2007)". MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive. University of St Andrews, Scotland. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  2. Tee, Garry; Wake, Graeme (7 June 2007). "Obituary: Leslie Woods". the Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  3. Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900–1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 397.
  4. Woods, L. C. (1 January 2000). "Against the Tide: An Autobiographical Account of a Professional Outsider". CRC Press. Retrieved 16 May 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. "Professor Les Woods". 20 May 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. Woods, Leslie (2006). Theory of Tokamak Transport. Oxford: Wiley-VCH. ISBN 3-527-40625-5.
  7. "Leslie Colin Woods". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
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