I feel this sort of undertaking could only be done by those programmers who truly value domain knowledge above all else (money, etc). I'm more of the entrepreneureal mind so I generally only learn as much as needed to do some task (even if it's very difficult), but just seeking information as a means to an end doesn't feel fulfilling to me. Of course many people DO find that, and its upon those people's shoulders that heroic things like this rest, and I'm very thankful to them.