>>Ok, no argument as to the fact that you have to consider which "pile" you are talking about. One note though, you are comparing all of Europe to the US. Last I checked Europe was a continent, not a county. Of course, there is a move toward unification but, I think they still have sovereign countries.
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>>The reason I choose Europe is (a) becuase it is now, for the sake of comparisons, the EU and hence comparable to the states of the US, and (b) becuase you need to do per capita comparison and the US and EU have roughly 300 million people each. It would be unfair to compare Nobel prize winners of the US to the 14 million people of Holland for example.
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>So are you saying the French, German, Spanish and English are all the same?

Not the same but similar, shared histories, lots in common. Are Hawaiians the same as Texans? Not quite but lots in common. I think its not a totally unfair comparison.

I'm saying if you want to compare the US on, for example, Nobel prize winners then you need a per-capita comparison. So either do a per-capita comparison or a US - EU comparison.