title: Minimum value on a 2d array python
body: <p>I have an array of the following structure which is simplified for this question:</p>
  
  <pre><code>8 2 3 4 5 6
  3 6 6 7 2 6
  3 8 5 1 2 9
  6 4 2 7 8 3
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I wish to find the minimum value in this 2D array however using the inbuilt min function returns a value error:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>ValueError: The truth value of an array with more than one element is ambiguous. Use a.any() or a.all()</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>I have looked into the alternative of using np.argmin:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy/reference/generated/numpy.argmin.html" rel="noreferrer">https://docs.scipy.org/doc/numpy/reference/generated/numpy.argmin.html</a></p>
  
  <p>However it only evaluates along a single axis and returns the index of the minimum value along a single row/column whereas I wish to evaluate the whole array and return the lowest value not the indices. </p>
  
  <p>If it is possible to return the index values of the lowest item in the array then that would be preferable also as from that the lowest value can easily be found.</p>
  
  <p>EDIT: Thanks to the comments below <code>np.min</code> is the solution I was looking for and I was not aware of it existing so my answer is solved.</p>