When Franz Ucko retired from his profession as a research scientist in 1986 after an illustrious career in the field of Microlithography he had a number of patents and many papers to his credit . This was the time when he decided to start a new career as a photo-journalist which he has successfully pursued ever since . He has written three books, The story of the photomask, the tool which made the 20th. century possible, Love one another, an environmental story about a 12,000 year old tribe in the Philippines, and his autobiography, A new Beginning . There are by now almost three dozen of Ucko’s photo essays from all over the globe about places in Australia, Asia, Central America, Europe and New Zealand scattered world wide . In this book, which he calls the 4th. dimension of geriatrics, a few obser - vations about old age by a young octogenarian, the author writes with tongue in cheek about that age which finds most of us of his age in nursing homes or hospitals . He still lives at home, alone and totally self sufficient and is planning a trip to the Maya cities of Chichen Itza and Uxmal in Mexico, places he once taught about as a volunteer at the Science Museum of Minnesota . The cover photo shows him with his Sherpa guide near the base camp to Mt. Everest where he visited when he was 75 years old .