[acallaha]

Yes, IIUC it had something like a separate scratch space, and training examples training it to "think" in terms of symbolic expressions and python programs.

See section 3.1.1 here: https://galactica.org/static/paper.pdf

Example from the paper below:

  Question: A needle 35 mm long rests on a water surface at 20◦C. What force over and above the needle’s weight
  is required to lift the needle from contact with the water surface? σ = 0.0728m.
  <work>
  σ = 0.0728 N/m
  σ = F/L
  0.0728 = F/(2 × 0.035)
  F = 0.0728(2 × 0.035)
  calculate.py
  ‘‘‘
  f = 0.0728*(2*0.035)
  with open("output.txt", "w") as file:
  file.write(str(round(f, 5)))
  ‘‘‘
  «run: "calculate.py">
  «read: "output.txt"»
  0.0051
  </work>
  Answer: F = 0.0051 N