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 .