You're bringing in a whole host of issues inapplicable to the snippet OC found questionable. Don't disagree with ya, but "lack of obvious abstraction" isn't one of these "extreme sensitivity to environment vars" cases.
In fact, vociferously complaining about such cases is a great way to turn scientists away from code review as a concept. Fold the code away in your head (or edit your local copy), and dig for subtle issues like numerical sensitivity, environment, etc. That's the way to bring actual value to the process.
For the code in question, "oh by the way this can be done simpler", with the simplified snippet, is an appropriate approach to the review. But in my experience it's best to save your breath for actual problems.
In fact, vociferously complaining about such cases is a great way to turn scientists away from code review as a concept. Fold the code away in your head (or edit your local copy), and dig for subtle issues like numerical sensitivity, environment, etc. That's the way to bring actual value to the process.
For the code in question, "oh by the way this can be done simpler", with the simplified snippet, is an appropriate approach to the review. But in my experience it's best to save your breath for actual problems.