The determinant is a value associated with a square matrix. It is used throughout mathematics; for more details please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determinant. For an n x n real value matrix the determinant corresponds to the scaling an n-dimensional volume undergoes when transformed by the matrix. The positive sign of the determinant means the volume preserves its orientation ("clockwise" or "anticlockwise"), while a negative sign means reversed orientation. The numpy.linalg module has a det function that returns the determinant of a matrix.