Leslie Colin Woods (6 December 1922 – 15 April 2007) was a New Zealand mathematician.
Leslie Colin Woods | |
|---|---|
| Born | Leslie Colin Woodhead[1] 6 December 1922 Reporoa, New Zealand |
| Died | 15 April 2007 |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Doctoral advisor | Alexander Thom |
| Doctoral students | Jason Reese |
Early life and education
editWoods 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
editWoods 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
editIn 1943, Woods married Gladys Elizabeth (Betty) Bayley; they had five daughters.[2][3]
Bibliography
editHis 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
edit- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ a b Tee, Garry; Wake, Graeme (7 June 2007). "Obituary: Leslie Woods". the Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900–1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 397.
- ^ Woods, L. C. (1 January 2000). Against the Tide: An Autobiographical Account of a Professional Outsider. CRC Press. ISBN 9781482268751. Retrieved 16 May 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Professor Les Woods". 20 May 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2018 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ Woods, Leslie (2006). Theory of Tokamak Transport. Oxford: Wiley-VCH. ISBN 3-527-40625-5.
- ^ "Leslie Colin Woods". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.