Max cell value from a stacked raster

The following example shows two ways to get at the max raster value in a stack. The first utilizes max() which also gives you a host of other useful information. The second method uses maxValue(), which gives just the max value of both the rasters in the stack

library(raster)  

# Generate some georeferenced raster data
x = matrix(rnorm(400),20,20)
rast = raster(x)
extent(rast) = c(36,37,-3,-2)
projection(rast) = CRS("+proj=longlat +datum=WGS84")

y = matrix(rnorm(400),20,20)
rast2 = raster(y)
extent(rast2) = c(36,37,-3,-2)
projection(rast2) = CRS("+proj=longlat +datum=WGS84")

raster = stack(rast, rast2)

# Now run the statistics
max(raster) # Provides min, max and additional details  # Example 1

maxValue(raster)  # Gives both values                   # Example 2...
maxValue(raster)[[1]] # Gives first in stack max value
maxValue(raster)[[2]] # Gives second in stack max value

---

> maxValue(raster)  # Gives both values
[1] 2.688376 2.971443
> maxValue(raster)[[1]] # Gives first in stack max value
[1] 2.688376
> maxValue(raster)[[2]] # Gives second in stack max value
[1] 2.971443
> 
> max(raster) # Provides min, max and additional details
class       : RasterLayer 
dimensions  : 20, 20, 400  (nrow, ncol, ncell)
resolution  : 0.05, 0.05  (x, y)
extent      : 36, 37, -3, -2  (xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax)
coord. ref. : +proj=longlat +datum=WGS84 +ellps=WGS84 +towgs84=0,0,0 
data source : in memory
names       : layer 
values      : -1.457908, 2.971443  (min, max)