Subject: Where did Moore's Law come from and does it still hold true?

First of all, I am a math major.  I know very little about 
computers, but I have to know this for a research project I am 
doing for the college.

What I know: -Gordon Moore developed Moore's Law.
             -He is part of Intel (their website wasn't very     
              helpful).
             -Moore's law has been modified so that the doubling 
              occurs ever 18 months.

Where I have looked:
             -2 libraries (MANY magazines)
             -WWW (extensively)

What I have found:
             -graphs displaying Moore's law and actual curves 
              (they aren't that helpful)

What I STILL don't know:
             - WHAT is doubling????  (technology in general? or  
               the storage capabilities of microprocessors?)
             - Where is the raw numeric data?  I need some       
               numbers, because I need to know how he came up    
               with this law.  I gather it wasn't just a random  
               prediction!

Needless to say, I don't know a whole lot about this stuff and it 
would be very helpful if I knew exactly what the subject of 
Moore's Law is, and some raw numeric data to back it up.  I hope 
you can help me!  Thanks,  Sarah

Re: Where did Moore's Law come from and does it still hold true?