DEGREE, a step or stage. In academic usage, a degree is a title conferred by a university as a mark of proficiency in scholar ship. The word was first applied to the preliminary steps to the mastership or doctorate; viz., the baccalaureate and bicentiate. "The use of academic degrees, as old as the 13th century, is visibly borrowed from the mechanic corporations, in which an apprentice, after serving his time, obtains a testimonial of his skill and a license to practise his trade and mystery" (Gibbon, Autobiog raphy, 29). Originally, as the words "master" and "doctor" imply, the degree was a certificate of fitness to Leach at a university. Degrees in law, medicine and theology still carry with them a license to practise the corresponding professions, but degrees in arts are no more than certificates of a certain measure of acquaint ance with the subject. In modern times the practice has arisen of conferring honorary degrees as a recognition of distinction with out regard to academic qualifications. (X.) In general two practices are followed in the award of degrees. The European and South American countries have as a rule re tained the degrees of the five traditional faculties: law, medicine, theology, arts and philosophy, and in granting academic recogni tion for work in newer fields of study have granted the degree of the faculty to which they most nearly approximate. Except in France and Spain all intermediate degrees, such as those of bachelor and master, have been abolished. In Germany the doc torate of the various faculties is the only one granted, but there is a tendency to add new signatures such as Dr. Phil. Nat. or Dr. Rer. Nat. in mathematics and sciences and Dr. Ing. or Dr. Rer. Techn. in engineering. Except in the faculty of law, where the baccalaureat is granted, the usual French degrees are the licence and doctorat according to the faculties; these are State degrees, to which a doctorat d'universite has been added recently, carry ing with it the recognition of a university but none from the State.
In the British universities Oxford and Cambridge have remained conservative and grant the B.A. as the first degree in most facul ties; the B.Sc. and B.Litt. at Oxford are awarded for special re search and examination. In 1926 Dublin introduced the B.Sc. for students who do not present a classical language in their examina tions. The local universities have been more liberal in adding to the list of degrees although the B.A. and B.Sc., the latter in a great variety of special branches of science and technology, are the first degrees (M.A. in Scotland). The B.Com. in commerce, B.Arch. in architecture and B.Ed. in education are the more recent additions. The second degree is the M.A. or M.Sc., obtained everywhere by examinations except at Oxford and Cambridge where it is granted after a period of residence and payment of the prescribed dues. The doctorate (D.Sc., D. Litt., LL.D., etc.) is available in most branches, but in arts and science is usually awarded on the basis of contributions to knowledge and distinc tion in some special field. Since the World War an attempt has been made, but without much success, to establish the Ph.D. by examination. The usual degrees are available in medicine, law and theology. In all the universities the first degrees in arts or science may be obtained as an ordinary degree or with honours.
The greatest multiplication of degrees has taken place in the United States. Not only has there been a rapid expansion of spe cialization in the universities and colleges, but graduation in each specialty is recognized by a distinctive degree. The commonest degrees are still the B.A. and B.S. to which the signature of the special field is added, as B.A. in Ed., or B.S. in Arch. No attempt seems to be made at standardization; thus in business are A.B. in B. and B. (business administration and banking) and B.B.A. (busi ness administration). As soon as a new grouping of subjects takes place, it is designated by its own degree, as B.J. (journalism) or B.S. in Ae.E. (aeronautical engineering). These special fields have their corresponding designations at the more advanced levels, especially the master's degree, and although there is a tendency to retain the Ph.D. as the most advanced degree in arts and science special signatures are found; as Ed.D. (education). An attempt has been made for several years to grant certain degrees, such as L.H.D., D.D., LL.D., Litt.D., and D.C.L., honouis causa only.
(I. L. K.) In the science of measurement, degrees are small equal sub divisions of an interval; e.g., the interval between the freezing and boiling points of water are divided into equal increments of tem perature, the size of these depending on the arbitrary temperature scale chosen (see THERMOMETRY). The angle (q.v.) through which the radius of a circle turns in completing one revolution is divided into 36o degrees. The subdivisions of density scales are also termed degrees (see HYDROMETERS). The universal symbol for degree is a small circle at the top right-hand side of the figure denoting the number of degrees; e.g., fifteen degrees centigrade is written thus: 15 ° C. The degree as an angular measure is further divided into 6o minutes of arc (I ° = 6o").
In mathematics (q.v.), the degree of an expression is deter mined by the highest dimensions of its terms; thus +xy is an expression of the third degree, the first term, being the product of three variables, x, x and y, has three dimensions, and is of higher dimensions than the second which is the product of only two vari ables. (See EQUATIONS, THEORY oF.) In dynamics (q.v.) the expression "degrees of freedom" refers to the number of unique possible directions or modes of motion of a body (see also QUAN TUM THEORY and GYROSCOPE).