Here are some quick tips and and answers to frequently asked questions, in no particular order.
Quick facts, including common misconceptions, corrected:
Don’t let your starter touch metal.
Stainless steel is fine.
The yeast and bacteria come from the air.
The yeast and bacteria are pretty much everywhere, including in the air, and in the flour. Current research suggests that most of the original lacto-bacteria and wild yeast in sourdough starter comes from the flour.
Further reading
Light: The Biology of . . . Sourdough
Intense: The sourdough microflora: biodiversity and metabolic interactions
Wikipedia: Sourdough
Keep it basic, or go fancy. There is a huge amount of sourdough information out there, with many different recipes and ingredients. We’ll summarize the main topics, along with links to some of the most interesting.