Where science begins we begin to rely on data, fact, rigorous testing of hypotheses, and theory building.
We leave behind... Well, Heinlein said it best.
What are the facts? Again and again and again—what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell," avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history"--what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love, 1973
Data does not exist for its own sake. Were it not for free inquiry, a great deal of data would remain wholly beyond consideration. To reduce science to a body of facts solely attained by empiricism is to eliminate the greater part of scientific endeavor and expression. Consciousness, opinion, wishful thinking, etc - while we may yearn deeply to dismiss them - attend to our very being in such a way as to make pure objectivity impossible. Who would enjoy the life of a purely objective scientist? Whoever it is already indulges wishful thinking.
Yes, science relies upon data. Eventually, however, science must take the data and interpret, apply, and even subjectively assess its merits. If it is true, as the author you quote above asserts, that science consists merely of "what are the facts, and to how many decimal places," one is still faced with his own experience which may literally blind him from the facts.