As a crystallographer I strive to extract the best structure possible out of every crystal. Even though single crystal X-ray structure determination is in some ways a mature science, the quality of many published crystal structures leaves room for improvement ( e.g. Marsh 2004, Marsh 2003, Lutz & Spek 2004, Speck 2003). Dating back to my doctoral work in George Sheldrick's lab, one of the leading crystallographic groups in the world, I spent most of my research improving the method of X-ray crystallography. Consequently the title of my thesis was “ Problems of Modern High-Resolution Single-Crystal X-Ray Structure Determination ”. At MIT I am continuing this theme, primarily focusing on four fields: Data collection strategies, whole-molecule disorder, low-temperature phase transitions, and crystal packing.