I really like "The Worldly Philosophers" by Robert L. Heilbroner. I don't know if it's as focused on technology as you're looking for but it does a good job of showing how economics and economic theory evolved over time and the circumstances the people driving it were in that would have helped shape their thoughts.<p>It has a short chapter covering the time before "modern" economics and then covers many of the major economists from Adam Smith to Joseph Schumpeter.