[jmount]

Which do you want to know? (as it affects the answer greatly). And how short is "SHORT TIME"? For certain small values of "SHORT TIME" the answer is come back when you have more time.

How to apply machine learning using Python? (then scikit learn related materials).

How to tinker with machine learning implementations? (then which one are you trying to tinker with and what problem that isn't solved in the standard libraries is your concern?)

The theory of machine learning? (then "The Elements of Statistical Learning" and "An Introduction to Statistical Learning", but that is in R not in Python)