His undergraduate studies were in mathematics at
Birkbeck College. His further studies in physics were very much in the 'old school' European style at the time and he variously studied under
Walter Heitler,
Wolfgang Pauli, and
Herbert Fröhlich. While at University, Zienau was friends with
Alfred Sohn-Rethel. Sohn-Rethel published a pamphlet about an incident where Zienau observed some rats stealing eggs. ==Career==