Degrees of Freedom

Degrees of freedom can mean:

  • Degrees of freedom (mechanics), independent displacements and/or rotations that specify the orientation of the body or system
  • Degrees of freedom (physics and chemistry), a term used in explaining dependence on parameters, or the dimensions of a phase space
  • Degrees of freedom (statistics), the number of values in the final calculation of a statistic that are free to vary

Famous quotes containing the words degrees of, degrees and/or freedom:

    Complete courage and absolute cowardice are extremes that very few men fall into. The vast middle space contains all the intermediate kinds and degrees of courage; and these differ as much from one another as men’s faces or their humors do.
    François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)

    Always the laws of light are the same, but the modes and degrees of seeing vary.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    ... the sentimentalist ... exclaims: “Would you have a woman step down from her pedestal in order to enter practical life?” Yes! A thousand times, yes! If we can really find, after a careful search, any women mounted upon pedestals, we should willingly ask them to step down in order that they may meet and help to uplift their sisters. Freedom and justice for all are infinitely more to be desired than pedestals for a few.
    Bertha Honore Potter Palmer (1849–1918)