C. Northcote Parkinson and journalist Ann Fry (1921–1983), with whom he had two sons and a daughter. In 1958, while still in Singapore, he published his most famous work, "Parkinson's Law", which expanded upon a humorous article that he had published in the "Economist" magazine in November 1955, satirising government bureaucracies. The 120-page book of short studies, published in the United States and then in Britain, was illustrated by Osbert Lancaster and became an instant best seller. It explained the inevitability of bureaucratic expansion, arguing that 'work expands to fill the time available for its completion'. Typical of his satire and cynical humour,
Principle of maximum work showed this version to be incorrect. This was rectified, in thermodynamics, by incorporating the concept of entropy. Berthelot independently enunciated a generalization (commonly known as Berthelot's Third Principle, or Principle of Maximum Work), which may be briefly stated as: every pure chemical reaction is accompanied by evolution of heat. Whilst this principle is undoubtedly applicable to the great majority of chemical actions under ordinary conditions, it is subject to numerous exceptions, and cannot therefore be taken (as its authors originally intended) as a secure basis for theoretical reasoning on the connection between thermal effect and chemical affinity. The existence of