Christian Samuel Weiss

{{Short description|German mineralogist (1780–1856)}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Christian Samuel Weiss

| image = Weiss, Christian Samuel.jpg

| image_size = 225px

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1780|2|26|df=y}}

| birth_place = Leipzig, Germany

| death_date = {{death date and age|1856|10|1|1780|2|26|df=y}}

| death_place = Cheb, Austrian Empire

| residence =

| nationality =

| field = Physics
Mineralogy
Mathematics

| work_institution =

| alma_mater = Leipzig University

| doctoral_advisor = Abraham Gottlob Werner

| notable_students = Gustav Rose
Franz Ernst Neumann

| known_for =

| prizes =

| religion =

| footnotes =

}}

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).[http://www.hu-berlin.de/ueberblick/geschichte/rektoren/weiss/ Christian Samuel Weiss — Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150417093527/https://www.hu-berlin.de/ueberblick/geschichte/rektoren/weiss |date=2015-04-17 }} biographical information 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".

File:Weiss Christian Samuel Berlin Naturkundemuseum 2.jpg.]]