Minor punctuation and grammatical fixes to Preface and History. (#61)

* Minor punctuation and grammatical fixes to Preface and History.

* Spelling, wording, and punctuation fixes

---------

Co-authored-by: Clint Herron <hanclinto@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Hendrik Kleinwaechter <hendrik.kleinwaechter@gmail.com>

book/basics/how-sourdough-works.tex

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ stored nutrients to be converted into something the plant can use while
 it grows. The catalyst that makes the associated reactions possible is water.
 
 The seed typically contains the first prototypical leaves of the plant,
-and can put down roots using the stored nutrients inside. Once those leaves
+and it can put down roots using the stored nutrients inside. Once those leaves
 break through the soil and come into contact with the sunlight above, they
 begin to photosynthesize. This process is the plant's engine, and with the
 energy photosynthesis produces, the plant can continue to grow more roots,
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ to feed and multiply.
 
 The two main enzymes involved in this process are \textit{amylase} and
 \textit{protease}. For reasons that will soon be made clear, they are of the
-utmost importance to the home baker and their role in the making of sourdough
+utmost importance to the home baker, and their role in the making of sourdough
 is a key puzzle piece to making better-tasting bread.
 
 \subsection{Amylase}
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ dough, and it's why a long fermentation process is critical when you want to
 achieve a fluffy, open crumb with your sourdough bread.
 
 Aside from using great ingredients, the slow fermentation process is one of the
-main reasons Neapolitan pizza tastes so great; because the protease creates an
+main reasons Neapolitan pizza tastes so great: because the protease creates an
 extensible, easy-to-inflate dough, a soft and airy edge is achieved.
 
 Because the fermentation process typically takes longer than eight hours, a
@@ -203,10 +203,10 @@ tweak just by adjusting the speed of your dough's fermentation.
 
 \section{Yeast}
 
-Yeasts are single celled microorganisms belonging to the fungi kingdom, and
+Yeasts are single-celled microorganisms belonging to the fungi kingdom, and
 spores that are hundreds of millions of years old have been identified by
-scientists. There are a wide variety of species: So far, about 1,500 have been
+scientists. There are a wide variety of species--so far, about 1,500 have been
-identified. Unlike other members of the fungi kingdom, such as mold, yeasts do
+identified. Unlike other members of the fungi kingdom such as mold, yeasts do
 not ordinarily create a mycelium network \cite{molecular+mechanisms+yeast}
 \footnote{For one interesting exception, skip ahead to the end of this
 section.}.
@@ -307,15 +307,15 @@ There is another interesting experiment performed by Italian scientists that
 shows how crucial yeasts could be in protecting our crops. First, they made
 tiny incisions into some of the grapes on a vine. Then, they infected the
 wounds with mold. Some incisions were only infected with mold. Others were also
-innoculated with some of the 150 different wild yeast strains isolated from the
+inoculated with some of the 150 different wild yeast strains isolated from the
-leaves. They found that when the wound was innoculated with yeast, the grape
+leaves. They found that when the wound was inoculated with yeast, the grape
 sustained no significant damage \cite{yeasts+biocontrol+agent}.
 
 Intriguingly, there was also an experiment performed that showed how brewer's
-yeast could function as an aggressive pathogen to grape vines. Initially, the
+yeast could function as an aggressive pathogen to grapevines. Initially, the
 yeast lived in symbiosis with the plants, but after the vines sustained heavy
 damage, the yeast became opportunistic and started to attack, even going so far
-as to produce hyphae, the mycellium network normally associated with a fungus,
+as to produce hyphae, the mycelium network normally associated with a fungus,
 so that they could penetrate the tissue of the plants.
 
 \section{Bacteria}
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ versa. This makes sense, as nature generally does a superb job of composting
 and breaking down biological matter \cite{lactobacillus+sanfrancisco}.
 
 I have yet to find a proper source that clearly describes the symbiosis between
-yeast and bacteria, but my current understanding is that they both co-exist and
+yeast and bacteria, but my current understanding is that they both coexist and
 sometimes benefit each other, but not always. Yeast, for example, tolerate the
 acidic environment created by the surrounding bacteria and are thus protected
 from other pathogens. Meanwhile, however, other research demonstrates that both

book/history/sourdough-history.tex

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ people started using a bit of the dough from the previous
 day for the next batch of dough. But by doing so, sourdough
 bread making was born. Wild yeast in the flour and in the air
 plus bacteria start to decompose the flour-water mixture, also
-known as your dough. The yeast makes the dough fluffy and
+known as your dough. The yeast makes the dough fluffy, and
 the bacteria primarily creates acidity. The different
 microorganisms work in a symbiotic relationship. Humans
 appreciated the enhanced airy structure and slight acidity
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ modern bread yeasts, wine yeasts, and beer yeasts. Only in 1680,
 the scientist scientist Anton van Leeuwenhoek first studied yeast microorganisms
 under a microscope. Over time with each batch, the yeasts and bacteria
 would become better at consuming whatever they were thrown at.
-By feeding your sourdough starter you are selectively breeding
+By feeding your sourdough starter, you are selectively breeding
 microorganisms that are good at eating your flour. With
 each iteration, your sourdough knows how to better ferment the flour
 at hand. This is also the reason why more mature sourdough starters sometimes
@@ -80,13 +80,13 @@ pure yeast. This yeast would be extracted from batches of sourdough.
 The pure yeast would prove to be excellent and turbocharged
 at leavening bread doughs. What would previously take 10 hours
 to leaven a bread dough could now be done within 1 hour.
-The process became much more efficient. During world war II
+The process became much more efficient. During World War II
 the first packaged dry yeast was developed. This would ultimately
 allow bakeries and home bakers to make bread much faster.
 Thanks to pure yeast, building bread making machines was
-possible. Provided you maintain the same temperature
+possible. Provided you maintain the same temperature,
 your yeast would always ferment exactly the same way. As fermentation
-times sped up the taste of the final bread would deteriorate.
+times sped up, the taste of the final bread would deteriorate.
 The sprouting process induced by certain enzymes is essential
 to developing a fluffier texture and better tasting crust. This
 can't be indefinitely sped up. Soon bakeries would start
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ to sourdough bread in yeast-based doughs. Sourdough almost completely
 vanished from the surface of the Earth. Only a handful
 of true nerds would continue making bread with sourdough.
 Suddenly people started to talk more often about celiac disease
-and the role of gluten. The disease isn't new, it has first
+and the role of gluten. The disease isn't new; it has first
 been described in 250 AD \cite{coeliac+disease}. People
 would note how modern bread has much more gluten compared
 to ancient bread. The bread in ancient times probably was much flatter.
@@ -106,18 +106,18 @@ gluten proteins bind together once activated with water.
 Throughout the course of the fermentation, CO2 is trapped
 in this protein matrix. The tiny created chambers expand
 during the baking process. As the dough gelatinizes while
-being heated the structure is fortified. This makes the bread appear
+being heated, the structure is fortified. This makes the bread appear
 soft and fluffy when tasting it. Similar to drinking raw cow's milk,
 your immune system might react to the consumed proteins.
 There is gluten intolerance
 and celiac disease. When people say they don't handle
-gluten well it's mostly a gluten intolerance they describe.
+gluten well, it's mostly a gluten intolerance they describe.
 Some people describe similar issues when consuming
 too much lactose. If you eat a long-fermented cheese
-however most of the lactose has been fermented by
+however, most of the lactose has been fermented by
 the tiny microorganisms. People would investigate and
 note how sourdough bread can typically be handled better
-compared to plain fast made factory bread. The
+compared to plain, fast-made factory bread. The
 reason for this is that enzymes take time to work the dough.
 Gluten is a storage protein of flour. Once
 sprouting is activated by adding water, the protease
@@ -145,10 +145,10 @@ way of making sourdough bread. Soon many realized
 that making sourdough bread is more complex than modern
 yeast-based bread. You need to maintain a sourdough starter
 and have it in ideal shape to properly ferment your dough.
-Furthermore compared to a yeast-based dough you can't just
+Furthermore, compared to a yeast-based dough, you can't just
 punch the dough down and let the fermentation continue.
 You can overferment your dough, resulting in a sticky
-dough mess. This complexity lead to many bakers looking
+dough mess. This complexity led to many bakers looking
 for help and many thriving communities formed around
 the topic of homemade bread.
 

book/intro/preface.tex

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ It was a white fluffy sandwich bread, and she made it within one to two hours us
 Being a bit more experienced, I now realize it's
 ideal to wait a little while before cutting into your bread, but back then,
 we kids couldn't wait. Mom would cut for us a few slices straight from the oven, and we would
-immediately proceed to pour butter or jam on each slice. Within minutes, 1kg of
+immediately proceed to pour butter or jam on each slice. Within minutes, 1 kg of
 flour would be consumed. Bread became an integral part of my weekly food.
 
 I was lucky that my parents could afford a yearly ski trip to
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ For the first time, I was faced with shopping for my own bread. It was never
 on my mind to actually start baking it for myself. I would just buy 
 a good loaf while shopping at the supermarket. My favorite variety
 was a Schwarzbrot, Korn an Korn. It’s a very dark and hearty rye bread
-with added berries and sunflower seeds. Being a little naive,
+with added berries and sunflower seeds. Being a little naïve,
 I'd never before examined the packaging of what I was buying. One day, that
 changed.
 
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ steps to follow. The baking instructions and temperatures were all different, to
 Meanwhile, having completed my studies, I started work as an engineer.
 We engineers are faced with many challenges. The compiler or runtime is
 always screaming at you with errors, and it's your job to figure out how to fix them.
-It can take hours, sometimes days just to fix a simple problem. If you want
+It can take hours, sometimes days, just to fix a simple problem. If you want
 to become a software engineer, you have to develop a certain ``never-give-up'' attitude.
 
 When writing code, software engineers often need to use a set of pre-made routines. These routines have been
@@ -79,20 +79,20 @@ bug. That is when the developer must dig deeper to see the 'what' and the 'why'
 the framework is doing. You will need to read other engineer's source code, and you will be forced
 to understand {\it why} things are happening.
 
-Being unhappy with what I was baking, my engineering mindset took over and I had
+Being unhappy with what I was baking, my engineering mindset took over, and I had
 to do my own deep dive to understand what was going on. Much to my surprise, however,
 none of the recipes I'd encountered would tell me {\it why} I should use amount X
 of water and amount Y of flour, or {\it why} exactly I should use fresh yeast over dry yeast. Why
 should I slap my dough while kneading it on the counter? Why is a standmixer
 better than kneading by hand?  Why should I let the dough sit for this long?
 Why is steaming the dough during baking important? Do I really need to
-get myself an expensive dutch oven to bake bread?
+get myself an expensive Dutch oven to bake bread?
 
 The problem compounded when I started reading about sourdough. It all sounded like black
 magic. Why were some sourdoughs made from fruits, while others were made from flour?
 Why should one recipe use wheat while another used rye or spelt? How often should the
 sourdough be fed? The questions I had then could have filled 20 pages. I was confused,
-but became even more determined to learn how decent bread should be made at home.
+but I became even more determined to learn how decent bread should be made at home.
 
 The feedback I received from friends helped me to improve with each
 iteration of homemade bread. Compared to coding, where you sometimes have to wait months
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ I have developed similar algorithms myself as a software engineer.
 I've since decided to take some time off from the algorithm cycle to work on something more
 long term and meaningful. My mission has always been to share my knowledge with as many people
 in the world as possible. That's also why my content has been provided in English rather than
-German. After discussing with members of the community, I figured that writing a book could
+German. After discussions with members of the community, I figured that writing a book could
 help me achieve that goal. Most of the books that exist today are collections of recipes. My
 idea, however, is to provide you with a deeper foundation of knowledge that you can use to
 follow other recipes.
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ and more. It should provide a detailed understanding as to why certain steps are
 and how to adapt then when things go wrong while making bread.
 
 It is my desire for this knowledge to be accessible to everyone around the world, regardless
-of budget, and as such, do not want to charge for the book. That's why I've decided to make
+of budget, and as such, I do not want to charge for the book. That's why I've decided to make
 it open source and have asked the community to support my work financially via my ko-fi page
 (https://ko-fi.com/thebreadcode). The community's feedback has been amazing so far, and
 I've already raised much more money than initially expected.