The single biggest predictor of national success in science literacy is the degree to which a country is not dominated by dogmatic religious beliefs, whether it be fundamentalist Christianity or conservative Islam. As Jon Miller documented, most of these industrialized European and Asian countries have no such strong forces of religious dogmatism in their politics and culture, and their schools teach evolution and other scientific topics with almost no interference by religious zealots.
MORE: http://www.skepticblog.org/2012/01/11/the-elephant-in-the-room-of-science-illiteracy/
See also...
Evolution Is Written All Over Your Face
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120111223744.htm
