The historical development of steam boilers has been a popular issue among historians and engineers in Japan. The most prominent example is Seikan Ishigai. Drawing on his extensive study of the steam boiler, Ishigai defines the contradiction between power and control as an intrinsic law of the development of technology. In other words, he is a technological determinist. Trevor Pinch, Wiebe Bijker's approach (Social Construction of Technology : SCOT) and also Thomas Hughes's technological systems approach, on the other hand, give more weight to external factors, and do not give proper attent...