To begin in small increments or by degrees.

逐渐开始：按小的增额或程度开始。

youdao

He notes that although a detectable tilt is caused when the temperature drops by a few degrees, that tilt is too small to explain the anomalies and, in any case, it would lag roughly 30 minutes behind the shadow (because it takes time for the ground to cool) while the experimental measurements show a change in g instantaneously during an eclipse.

ECONOMIST: Gravitational anomalies

According to the Center for Research in Security Prices, microcaps outperform small caps and large-caps stocks over time, although returns deviate by wider degrees.

FORBES: Why You Should Own a Really Diversified Portfolio in 2012