Steklov was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.

In 1887 he graduated from the Kharkov University, where he was a student of Aleksandr Lyapunov.

Steklov wrote a number of works on the history of science.

[1] In 1926 he was elected a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

[2] Steklov died in Gaspra, Crimea, USSR.