Christian Samuel Weiss

Christian Samuel Weiss
Born	(1780-02-26)26 February 1780 Leipzig, Germany
Died	1 October 1856(1856-10-01) (aged 76) Cheb, Austrian Empire
Alma mater	Leipzig University
Scientific career
Fields	Physics Mineralogy Mathematics
Doctoral advisor	Abraham Gottlob Werner
Notable students	Gustav Rose Franz Ernst Neumann

Christian Samuel Weiss (26 February 1780 – 1 October 1856) was a German mineralogist born in Leipzig.

Following graduation, he worked as a physics instructor in Leipzig from 1803 until 1808. and in the meantime, conducted geological studies of mountain formations in Tyrol, Switzerland and France (1806–08). In 1810 he became a professor of mineralogy at the University of Berlin, where in 1818/19 and 1832/33, he served as university rector. He died near Eger in Bohemia.

Weiss is credited for creating parameters of modern crystallography, and was instrumental in making it a branch of mathematical science. He stressed the significance of direction in crystals, considering crystallographic axes to be a possible basis for classification of crystals. He is credited for introducing the categorization schema of crystal systems, and has a basic law of crystallography named after him called the "Weiss zone law".

Relief of Christian Samuel Weiss at the entrance of the Naturkundemuseum in Berlin-Mitte.

Works by Weiss that have been translated into English

• "On the methodical and natural distribution of the different systems of crystallisation" Edinburgh : Printed for A. Constable, 1823.
• "On the crystallographic discoveries and systems of Mohs and Weiss" (with Friedrich Mohs); Edinburgh : Printed for A. Constable, 1823.

References

• Parts of this article are based on a translation of an equivalent article at the German Wikipedia.
• Historical atlas of crystallography by José Lima-de-Faria, Martin Julian Buerger

External links

• University of Cambridge DoITPoMS Teaching and Learning Packages (Weiss zone law explained)