It's important to remember that the vast majority of the public haven't
the vaguest idea of how machinery works, nor are they anxious to learn.

Machinery is considered privileged information, to be accessed only by
people who took all the difficult courses at school, and to show the
least interest will immediately entangle the curious victim in the
thickets of higher mathematics, where they'll perish.

Steampunk is fictional machinery that's far friendlier than, say, an
automobile.  Steampunk looks like you might be able to understand it,
for isn't steam power really simple?

And the people who invented these fanciful machines are funny and
friendly, unlike the terrifying physics teacher you had in high school.

Thus Steampunk is just another form of science fiction.  It borders on
pure fantasy, as far from real engineering as possible.

Mark Kinsler