Ninety years after the genesis of quantum physics significant research on students' understanding of such revolutionary phenomena is beginning to emerge. What are photons really like? Are they like particles or waves? Are they like both particles and waves, or like neither?

Philosophical analysis indicates that underlying much of the Western scientific world view is the metaphysical presupposition of duality, the claim being made that the world is made sense of in terms of either/or and in terms of polarities (e.g., light versus dark). By way of contrast, no concept is more important in Asian philosophical and religious thought than that of nonduality. The basic ideas of quantum physics are not so much difficult as that they are strange. In some situations, electrons that are usually referred to as 'particles' may exhibit 'wave-like' behavior.

Students experience considerable conceptual difficulties in trying to incorporate the ideas of quantum physics into their overall cognitive framework. The preliminary findings of a study investigating students' understanding of quantum phenomena is presented.