Typography is an artform, but don't blame science for its decline but rather conformism. I've generally known people to weep and wail when something strays an inch from Helvetica, Computer Modern, and Roboto. Therefore, all one needs to do to be an 85% expert at type is put <style>@font { roboto: url(data:...) charset(latin1); }</style> at the top of an html page and everything magically looks good. If I wanted to get into typography then I'd probably do it by learning Arabic since it's all cursive and really complicated, which means plenty of opportunities for creativity.