Maxima and Minima - 1

In mathematics, the maximum and minimum  of a function, known collectively as extrema , are the largest and smallest value that the function takes at a point either within a given neighborhood  or on the function domain in its entirety . Pierre de Fermat was one of the first mathematicians to propose a general technique for finding maxima and minima.

More generally, the maximum and minimum of a set (as defined in set theory) are the greatest and least element in the set. Unbounded infinite sets such as the set of real numbers have no minimum and maximum.