To quote Dorothy Hodgkin: The great advantage of X-ray analysis as a method of chemical structure analysis is its power to show some totally unexpected and surprising structure and to do so with absolute certainty.
I will show examples of how Fourier analysis using X-ray observations from a crystal, combined with imperfect phases, can allow us to boot-strap our way to a satisfactory structure. Combining these basic principals with the great computing power, and excellent data acquisition facilities now available has extended our power to “see” to new levels.