> > > Which is easier to learn?
> >
> > Yes.
>
> Pardon, I made a typo: I meant "Which one is easier to learn?". Do you
> mean Ruby is easier to learn than Python?

I think that Python is easier to learn, but Ruby provides more
flexibility. Both of them are so easy to learn that it doesn't matter
which is easier (thus the answer is "yes"). You could even learn both
and decide which you like best.

I would recommend purchasing the second edition of "Programming Ruby:
The Pragmatic Programmer's Guide", but you can also read the first
edition online.
http://www.ruby-doc.org/docs/ProgrammingRuby/

I would recommend this tutorial for Python:
http://docs.python.org/tut/tut.html
Then this document as a reference:
http://docs.python.org/lib/lib.html

Also, once you have learned how to automate all those things that you
once did by hand, I strongly recommend learning OCaml next. Fortran is
no longer one of the better languages available, and it shouldn't be
used for new programs. You will find that programs written in OCaml
are shorter, simpler, and easier to write than equivalent Fortran
programs. When the process of programming becomes easier, one of the
results is that it becomes easier to experiment with ways to improve
your program's speed. The following book focuses on using OCaml for
the types of programs that are traditionally written in Fortran.

http://www.ffconsultancy.com/products/ocaml_for_scientists/

-- 
There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to
make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the
other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious
deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult.

                    - C.A.R. Hoare -