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

Early life and education

Woods was born on 6 December 1922 in Reporoa, New Zealand. Woods' father was a fisherman. 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). 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. In 1940 Woods went on to study at

Auckland University College , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, but left to join the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

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. 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 Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

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.

Academic career

Woods was the Nuffield Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Technology at Sydney. 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.

Personal life

In 1943, Woods married Gladys Elizabeth (Betty) Bayley; they had five daughters. Woods died on 15 April 2007 in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Bibliography

His notable books include: * ''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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Leslie Colin 1922 births 2007 deaths 20th-century New Zealand mathematicians 21st-century New Zealand mathematicians Alumni of Merton College, Oxford