“Doctorates are in demand all over the world,” you note, “but Germany is where politicians seem to need them most” (“Doctors in the House,” March 5, 2011). Nearly a fifth of the country’s lower house holds doctoral degrees. That includes Angela Merkel, the chancellor. By comparison, only about three percent of their American counterparts hold doctoral degrees. You do not go into the reasons for this difference, but Germans seem to like titles. Any titles, as a matter of fact. Nowadays, doctoral titles will do, and they have to be known to everyone in sight. I remember being annoyed with German colleagues at international conferences, where my name was stripped of all titles, as was perfectly normal in America at the time, whereas their names came bristling with everything under the sun: professor, doctor, and even double or triple doctor on occasion. Unfortunately, the German title mania has spread across Central Europe. In Croatia, where I happen to be residing at the moment, politicians are crazy about doctoral degrees. And so was the country’s founder, Franjo Tuđman. Like Merkel, he sported his title with relish.