The term “mineral material science” first appeared in China in the 1980s. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, to adapt to the efficient development and utilization of China’s mineral resources, especially nonmetallic mineral resources, and the continuous development of the mineral material industry, mineral material science has emerged as a new interdisciplinary field. However, what is its definition and connotation? What are its important features? What is its research content? What is it really? What are the connections and differences between it and materials science? Since the 1980s, domestic scholars have attempted to understand and interpret mineral material science from different perspectives. Same as the concept of mineral materials, the connotation and characteristics are also one of the fundamental questions of mineral material science.