Dear Terry,
although I would love to believe you (the US best), the problem is: the test compares a generation, I think - and in "elitist" countries such as Germany or France, only the best go into sciences, and the perecntile going into a university education is still relatively low. This means, the public is dummer than here (IF that is possible), but the elite is still better - however, our research climate is better, so the best still end up all here....
Best (not sufficiently science literate)
Achim
"Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind." Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, “Transcendental Logic,” Introduction, # 1 Dr. Achim D. Koeddermann, Philosophy Dept. SUNY-Oneonta, NY 13820 "Gedanken ohne Inhalt sind leer, Anschauungen ohne Begriffe sind blind"