I've observed this in bioinformatics - Python, Perl, R are much more common than (let's say) lisp or Ruby, partially because more people know these first langu

I've observed this in bioinformatics - Python, Perl, R are much more common than (let's say) lisp or Ruby, partially because more people know these first languages (possible exception in R - is that even taught in university?), but IMHO more because libraries such as BioPerl, Biopython, Matplotlib (Seaborn), numpy/scipy, ggplot2, the entire CRAN ecosystem are so much more mature than what you get in lisp/Ruby, you can get amazing stuff done very quickly.