I am a Nerd through and through, I read my first novel when I was 8 (Fuzzy Sapiens by H. Beam Piper) and was hooked on sci-fi and fantasy ever since. When I was 12 I played my first game of D&D, again hooked. When I was 15 my mother bought me a sci-fi role playing game, and that hooked me on science. I spent 19 years in the computer science field, where I was lucky enough to teach classes to NASA employees and contractors.
Making cool stuff in wood, and other old art forms.
I can't list them all here, seriously. Star Wars (the original trilogy) was formative for me.
Battlestar Galactica (both of them), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Babylon 5.
Dresden Novels, Startide Rising, Uplift War. So many more
Jim Butcher, Larry Niven, David Brin, just to name a few
Pathfinder 2e, GURPS, Savage Worlds