I'm not sure if I'd agree. Python was pretty lucky to have numpy/pandas when "data science" started taking off a few years ago. It easily could have been another language.
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Numpy arrived in python because the language allowed mathematicians who were not programmers to get their job done and then do stuff that were not math related as well.
They don't have the desire to learn what a monad is, they don't want to type variables when exploring a badly formated heterogenous data dump, and they do want to be able to read the code of their intern freshly out of school once he leave without writing down any doc.
Pretty lucky to be an overnight success, 25 years in the making.