On the Brighter Side...

If you're looking for some more "optimistic" tales from the nineteenth century, you might have a look at:
Edward Bellamy's _Looking Backward_
Charles Fourier's, _The Four Movements_
H. Bruce Franklin's _Future Perfect: American Science Fiction of the Nineteenth Century_ collects together many future-looking narratives of science and technology.

(Of course, since our class is on "weird science," we're focusing a bit more on the dangerous, the unethical, the bizarre, and the pessimistic...)