The document discusses methods for finding the maximum and minimum values of functions with two independent variables, including: 1) Using the second derivative test to determine if a critical point is a local maximum or minimum. 2) Finding absolute maxima and minima, which are the overall largest and smallest function values in the domain. 3) Identifying stationary points where the first partial derivatives are equal to zero. 4) Using the Hessian matrix and eigenvalues to generalize the second derivative test to functions of more than one variable.