[mechanical_fish]

phrase a query to google, find the resulting formula, and turn it into code

You left out the part where, months later, you pay a mathematically-inclined consultant hundreds of dollars to fix the bugs in the formula that you cut and pasted without understanding it. ;)

Numerical methods was a very interesting class, even on day one. You'd be amazed how easy it is to screw up simple formulas by doing the math in the wrong order -- the finite precision of floating-point arithmetic means that you have to be constantly on your guard.