Speaking of ranges, why American ones seem to always have controls positioned so that in order to reach them one has to put one's arm over flames or deep-fry one's sleeve?

I can't think of one I've seen off-hand that is like this. The two ranges that have been in my parent's kitchen in an island (one electric and one gas) have had their controls on the front side, and the range I have in my place had its controls on the front, although the controls for the oven beneath the range are on the back face of the range where the clock is. I also went to a showroom for ranges recently (when my parents were deciding what to put in the kitchen that's being remodeled right now) I saw tons of ranges, and none that I saw have their controls anywhere but the front. Maybe you've been using very old ranges?

By the way, the range my parents just put in is incredible. It's made by Wolf, and the flames are just amazing. It'll be a while before we figure out how not to burn our food