"Autolyse" was "invented" by a scientist in 1974, yet bakers for generations have used a "sponge" that achieves the same goals. As a child (in the early to mid-70s) I watched my mom make bread thousands of times and it was always the same. Start in the morning, create a sponge, would revisit it throughout the day when she had a spare moment, build it over time, bake later in the afternoon or evening or the next day. I asked her why the sponge, and she said "there's something about letting it sit around that makes it taste better". You don't have to be a scientist and give things a fancy name to figure out a good thing when you taste it.

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