[Rudder]

Biology isn't a soft science. Just squishy. It's not as austere as physics and astronomy, but I regard it as one of the "hard sciences."

in some ways physics is less empirical than biology.

[expatpat]

Empiricism does not define 'hardness' -- any succesful scientific endeavor needs both theory and emprical study, with controlled experiments. Theory without experiment is philosophy, empiricism without theory is merely observation.