At first Corsini, Ginori Conti and Garbasso had planned to organize a chronological exhibition divided according to the various disciplines, in order to show the progressive development and perfecting of machines, instruments and theories. However, practical reasons soon persuaded them to change direction, opting instead for an exhibition arranged on a geographical basis. Numerous local administrations, in fact, preferred that each city be assigned a space of its own, even threatening in some cases not to participate in the event unless such a space were assured them. In the major Italian cities, local committees were formed to find and collect the items to be sent to Florence, and each committee was entitled to set up its own section independently.
