Ada Palmer is a national treasure! A terrific Renaissance historian at UChicago. But also an exciting, erudite (and fun!) guest at science fiction/fantasy/horror conventions for years. (She wrote the mind-bending Terra Ignota series.)
At one con she handed a small incunabulum around the room for everyone to (carefully) hold in our hands, while she spoke brilliantly about the early history of printing, as in this video.
