Henry Feinberg

Henry Feinberg is an American interpreter of science and technology known for bringing complex ideas to life through film, interactive exhibits, and public demonstrations. He earned a BA in Communication Arts from New York University in 1964 and began his career in the 1950s as a production assistant on the television series Mr. Wizard, where he devised simple science demonstrations using everyday objects. He was also a licensed amateur radio operator under the call sign K2SSQ and contributed regular technology reports to _Amateur Radio Newsline. _He later joined Bell Labs’ corporate exhibits group, where he developed educational films and installations that translated complex technical systems into accessible, hands-on experiences for the public..

While at Bell Labs, Feinberg directed The Thinking Machine (1968), a 16mm educational film that explored the question of whether computers could think. The film combined live action, animation, and early computer-generated imagery by Stan Vanderbeek and Ken Knowlton to introduce viewers to emerging ideas in artificial intelligence. In 1982, Feinberg was contacted by movie director Steven Spielberg, who was looking for a device that would allow E.T., the alien in his upcoming film, to “phone home.” Drawing on his experience constructing science demonstrations from found materials, Feinberg assembled the device using common household objects arranged to suggest a functional communications system. He assembled the prop in his Manhattan apartment using parts including a Speak & Spell toy, an umbrella, saw blades, coat hangers, and kitchen tools. The result was a whimsical and convincing machine that Feinberg described as “the plausible impossible,” a device designed to appear technically functional within the imaginative logic of the film.

Feinberg designed exhibits for EPCOT Center, Universal Studios, and AT&T’s InfoQuest Center, and served as a consultant to science museums internationally. Over the course of his career, he received eighteen international film awards, including two Golden Eagles. He retired from AT&T in the late 1990s