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I just watched Lynn's excellent 3 part video on honing. I see that when honing the direction of travel is edge first, but when stropping, its spine first. I can see why one would not want to lead with the edge on a leather strop, but I am curious as to why you wouldn't/shouldn't go spine first with the stone. I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here, so apologies in advance for what is most likely a newbie question.
Basically, Because you get the possibility of a feather or wire edge. This is an extremely sharp, but brittle edge that has almost no strength.
You can try it with a knife. On coarser stones or files, it can be visible even to the untrained eye.
A variety of strokes can be used while honing. We use X strokes, Circles and Backstrokes. Backstrokes (a back and forth motion) are normally used when doing bevel or repair work. Edge first really gives you maxium results, of course you can't go edge first on a strop. Maybe someone else can chime in with a better explanation.
If i remember correctly It's forward honing to move the steel away from the edge, many have tried spine forward to hone and ultimately got a better edge going edge first.