In 1959, Woodhouse was called up for National Service and worked with the Royal Air Force at the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine, and then at the Farnborough Radar Research Establishment - RRE.
After being discharged from military service, Woodhouse worked as an author of novels and screen plays, a computer programmer and a stock trader.
What epitomises Woodhouse's stories is that the hero is a Man of Science in the broadest sense, who thwarts his opponents using wits and expertise, applying craft of all kinds; rather than relying on brawn, skill at arms, or dogged detective work (cf.
Woodhouse wrote a series of techno-thriller novels about Giles Yeoman, an aeronautical engineer who is a reluctant participant in a variety of cloak-and-dagger exploits conducted by the British intelligence community.
Leonardo is depicted as a clever, sarcastic Italian Renaissance engineer who doubts the supremacy of the Catholic Church.