It seems to me that the breakthrough is not only beyond the grasp of lay people but beyond the grasp of the writer.

Fluid dynamics is not "a problem in the physics of aerodynamics," it's a discipline and science in its own right. And discerning when airflow separates certainly doesn't require perfect two-dimensional surfaces and low speeds, I've myself done tuft-testing to determine airflow separation airplanesf and it worked just fine on real-world dimensionality and real-world speeds.

I have no idea what this "writer" is trying to communicate, and I doubt that he does either.