This is the Know-It-All volume of photographica.

The newly released fourth edition is subtitled: “Digital Imaging, Theory and Applications, History, and Science.” It is all that and more. You can view it and buy it at Amazon.com for $84.60 Yes, that is a lot of money, but it is a lot of book (6.8 pounds) and includes a CD with the contents in searchable format.

My favorite section (so far) is by Mark Osterman of George Eastman House and the International Museum of Photography. Osterman is the authority on historic photographic processes, and a superb photographer. His website is collodion.org