Duncan I. Steel is a British space scientist. He has discovered several minor planets and has written four popular science books. He is a member of the International Astronomical Union, and has worked at the Xerra Earth Observation Institute in Nelson, in the South Island of New Zealand. He was formerly on the staff of the University of Salford in the United Kingdom. Steel completed a PhD at the University of Canterbury in 1984 with a thesis on the orbital characteristics of meteoroids.