Umchazazibalo wuphenyo lwezibalo. uLeonardo Fibonacci, uSoZibalo waseItaly owadidiyela uhlelozibalo lwe-Hindu–Arabic olwahlelwa ngamaNdiya phakathi kwekhulu leminyaka lokuqala nelesine (100 - 400 BC), lwase lwabhekiswe emazweni aseNtshonalanga. Umchazazibalo awunayo incazelo eyamukelwe ngokugcwele jikelele. uAristotle obe nguSoNzululwazi wayichaza ngokuthi, "ufundondalo lokuqala ngqo!", ngakho le ncazelo yasetshenziswa kwaze kwaba ikhulu leminyaka leshumi nesishiyagalombili (iKh. 18). uGalileo Galilei (1564 - 1642) wathi, "Umkhathi ngokugcwele kwawo ngeke ufundeke size sifunde ulimi futhi sizijwayeze ngohlelo lwezimpawu okubhalwe ngazo (umkhathi). Ubhalwe ngolimi lwe-mathemathiki, izimpawu ongxantathu, izindingiliza nezinye izimpawu ze-geometry, okungukuthi ngaphandle kwazo; kunzima kakhulu ukuqonda ngisho igama elilodwa vo! Ngaphandle kokuqonda lezimpawu nolimi lwe-mathemathiki, kuyize ukuthola ulwazi ngomkhathi nomhlaba." uCarl Friedrich Gauss (1777 - 1855) wachaza imathemathiki njenge "Ndlovukazi yezinhlaka ze-Sayensi". uBenjamin Peirce (1809 - 1880) wabiza umchazazibalo ngo "Fundandalo olubeka imiphumela edingekayo". uDavid Hilbert wathi ngomchazazibalo: "Asikhulumi la ngesingathekiso nje. Umchazazibalo awufani nje nomdlalo onemithetho nje yokuzenzela.