> the 'non-programmer' you seem to not think much of
If what I wrote lead to that as your main take-away, then I apologize for expressing myself badly, because nothing could be further from the truth! I studied physics myself at one point, and base this on conversations with friends who (unlike me) didn't drop out. Specifically, those who were asked by their professor to update old libraries during their PhD thesis.
BTW, the 'non-programmer' you seem to not think much of probably used an RPN calculator. Food for thought.