Learning resources are everywhere

The good ones are difficult to find

Hi, I’m Giles and this is my first post. I want to start by telling you what this Substack is about, and why I started it.

For 5 years I have been sharing learning resources on YouTube. Mainly related to coding: python in particular. Before I started YouTube I was a medical physics researcher and prior to that a journalist. My jobs have always been in some way related to searching for information and sharing it. This newsletter continues in that vein.

Why do I do this? It started as a hobby, to help friends who were learning to code. They would often struggle to find books and sites that were able to provide useful explanations, most of the learning materials were either too complex and very difficult for a beginner to understand or over simplified and of no practical use. During my own learning, I had built up a library of excellent resources that worked well for me and also developed my ability to find and recognize good learning materials. I shared them with friends and colleagues and then started sharing on YouTube.

So much great learning content already exists. It’s on websites and in books, but it can be difficult to find. I am sure you have experienced this: you want to learn something, python for example, you type ‘Learn Python’ or similar into Google and you’re presented with ads and search results that are optimized for the likelihood that you will click, and not necessarily the quality and usefulness of the resource. And because you’re a beginner, you do not know exactly what to look for, and which of the results will best suit you.

Choosing the wrong book or course to learn from can waste a lot of time. I hope this newsletter will help save you time and money and enhance your learning experience. I will share great learning resources discovered during my research. You may be familiar with some, but I hope you will find many gems here that are new to you. I always try to share free learning materials when possible, however, I will also cover paid for courses, where I think the quality of the content justifies the cost.

I read a lot of books, and will share my favourites.

Topics that I will be covering include coding and STEM subjects, but I will also share other resources and books that have helped me on my learning journey.