You're probably right. those rankings have a lot to do with the research papers published by those schools from non Americans. Relative to the US population, t

You're probably right. those rankings have a lot to do with the research papers published by those schools from non Americans. Relative to the US population, the primary and secondary education do not produce a high level of capability. Looking at the fields medals per capita[1] you can see that the US doesn't have as much as the UK, Russia, or France. You can also see that the university with Fields medals recipients [2] for more details, and indeed you can see that of the mathematicians associated with Princeton are not Americans. As a specific example, in [1] you can see that France is generating more than 4 times more fields medalists per capita than the U.S. Why is that? It probably has to do with the more rigorous Math education. Look for instance at this translated Math final[3] exam for French high school students. This is for the "Literary" students, those who focus more with the worst level of Math. You can see examples of the "Scientific" math test here [4]. It's in French, but it's Math, just by looking at the symbols it's possible to understand. It has some differential equations solving, probabilities, geometry with vectors/planes in 3D spaces, Series analysis, etc. Integrals and derivatives are also part of the program. In Physics these concepts are applied to calculate velocity/speed/radioactive decay etc. [1] http://stats.areppim.com/stats/stats_fieldsxcapita.htm http://stats.areppim.com/stats/stats_fieldsxcapita.htm [2] http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FieldsMedal.html http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FieldsMedal.html [3] https://gfbrandenburg.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/a-look-at-one-version-of-this-years-french-math-baccalaureat-exam/ https://gfbrandenburg.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/a-look-at-one... [4] http://www.letudiant.fr/bac/bac-s/corriges-et-sujets-du-bac-s/corrige-du-bac-s-le-sujet-de-maths-obligatoire.html http://www.letudiant.fr/bac/bac-s/corriges-et-sujets-du-bac-...