How do you read documentation in python

Headsup: I have started with python 2.6 about 2 hours ago. Been doing Java, C, etc. till now

TL;DR

In Java I want to understand what is an Object, I look at the javadoc here Where do I find a similar clear documentation of what a function does in python?

Long story

I understood the following

1. A variable 'a' is not restricted to a given datatype.
2. A variable 'a' can hold an 'int' and a 'float' at different points in time.

Ended up with a simple code and out of curiosity checked up type()

a = 1     # type(a) is int
a = 1.2   # type(a) is float
a = 1     # type(a) is int

Wanted to understand what type() in python really does and found type function that reads 'class type(object)' but Built-in data-types has no mention of either 'class' or 'object'

when i read 'class type(object)' I interpret it as

1. there is a function called 'type'
2. this accepts an object as a parameter
3. this returns a class

But python documentation is contradicting saying "return the type of an object. The return value is a type object." and the code snippet at the documentation seemed to be creation of a class which made no sense either.

a = False # type(a) returns 'bool'

Built-in data-types talks about Boolean, so where is bool documentation located?