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I am a software engineer by profession and sometimes get curious on some physics terms I hear about and expect myself to have some at least basic intuition of what it is all about.

I keep hearing of terms like quantum physics,quantum mechanics, classical physics, classical mechanics,duality of light,string theory etc etc. I have no intuition or a very broad level understanding of these terms.

Could someone please try to explain these terms as if to a layman...some historical perspective....current state etc..

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This question is extremely broad. It might be more productive to choose just one thing you want to know about. Also, check out the search feature since there have been some questions in the past asking for lay explanations of different things. – Mark Eichenlaub Oct 19 '11 at 16:59
As you're a software engineer, perhaps a worthwhile step would be to look at the Institute of Physics booklet on quantum information, computing, communication, etc., just out, iop.org/publications/iop/2011/page_52065.html I mention this particular publication because it appeared in my inbox this morning, it looks quite nicely judged, and it's short. One failing is that it doesn't have suggestions for further reading. – Peter Morgan Oct 19 '11 at 17:08

closed as not a real question by Mark Eichenlaub, dmckee♦ Oct 19 '11 at 18:01

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.