Oswald Veblen Quote

The branch of physics which is called Elementary Geometry was long ago delivered into the hands of mathematicians for the purposes of instruction. But, while mathematicians are often quite competent in their knowledge of the abstract structure of the subject, they are rarely so in their grasp of its physical meaning.

Geometry and Physics, Science, Volume 57, Number 1466, February 2, 1923 (p. 131)